After two years of intense discussions and more than 24,000 comment letters, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the final climate disclosure rules in an almost 900-page document. While the rules are under a voluntary SEC stay and still face legal challenges, they represent the new reporting reality for US capital markets.  Beyond reporting, the rules will influence firm behavior and performance over time, directly affecting US firms operating in Brazil and Brazilian firms with ties / access to US capital markets.

The SEC’s new disclosure rules represent the last of the “Big 3” ESG reporting standards issued, the others coming from the European Union (EU) as part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and internationally issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While the expectation is that most companies will be affected by the ESG disclosure rules, the requirements differ significantly, with no equivalency provisions provided.  Moreover, additional SEC disclosure requirements are expected soon on other ESG themes, such as human capital.

The new climate requirements raise the below questions:

• How will companies meet the challenge of producing, communicating, and explaining new disclosures?
• How will companies communicate their ESG risks, opportunities, strategies, targets, and progress in compelling stories?
• How will investors be able to compare and evaluate investment alternatives using the new information?
• What will the sanctions be for non-compliance and how will investors react to firms in non-compliance with these specific rules?  Will there be de facto ordering of compliance rules in the market evaluation of firm compliance performance?
• How long will it take for everyone to be ESG literate?

To delve into these questions and more, the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce was pleased to host a webinar on “New Climate Disclosure Rules: What’s Next?” with a esteemed panel of experts talking about the new framework and how the rules will affect operations for US and Brazilian firms alike.

Moderator & Speaker:

Kieran McManus, Partner, PwC

Speakers:

Sarah E. Fortt, Partner & Global Co-Chair of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Practice, Latham & Watkins LLP

Betty M. Huber, Partner & Global Co-Chair of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Practice, Latham & Watkins LLP

Shivaram Rajgopal, Kester and Byrnes Professor of Accounting & Auditing, Columbia Business School

View Speaker Bios