Investors push for climate change disclosures from companies

A group of investors is pushing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require that oil and gas companies provide more information about the impact climate change could have on their profitability.

The investors wrote Friday to SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White saying it is crucial that her staff “closely scrutinize oil and gas companies’ reporting” on risks to their business like the possibility of increased government limits on carbon emissions, reductions in global demand and costly oil and gas exploration projects.  

{mosads}”A growing number of investors are working to integrate climate risk into their investment strategies, and obtaining more information from fossil fuel companies about their capital expenditures and related risks is a critical part of this process,” the investors wrote.

The push comes one day after BP shareholders voted overwhelmingly to push for more reports on how climate change will affect the company’s operations. Shell shareholders will consider the same approach at their meeting in May.

The investors on Friday’s letter, organized by the sustainability group Ceres, suggested the SEC more closely scrutinize annual risk filings from “ExxonMobile, Chevron, Canadian Natural Resources and other oil and gas companies regarding carbon asset risks.”