SEC Commissioner Pushes Enhanced Disclosure To Address Climate Risk

On a London Stock Exchange Investor Group webinar, SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee highlighted the SEC's role in a "whole-of-government" approach to combating the risks associated with climate change, including enhanced disclosures to inform markets and policymaking.

She emphasized the collaborative nature of developing a climate-related disclosure regime, noting her own request for public comment on environmental, social and governance matters and SEC Chair Gary Gensler's directive to staff to prepare a climate risk disclosure rule proposal.

Ms. Lee also argued for a carbon tax that would incentivize market forces "to shift capital today to get us where we need to be tomorrow." She asserted that markets only operate optimally when so incentivized.