California seeks input on corporate greenhouse gas and climate risk reporting
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the regulator responsible for protecting California’s public from the impact of air pollution and developing action on climate change – has issued a request for comment (RFC) to shape the implementation of two climate-related programmes.
The programmes – California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (SB 253) and the Climate Related Financial Risk Disclosure Program (SB 261) – require large companies doing business in California to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks starting in 2026 and 2027.
SB 253 mandates reporting of Scopes 1, 2, and eventually 3 greenhouse gas emissions for companies with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion. SB 261 requires companies with revenues above $500 million to prepare climate-related financial risk reports. While the legislation outlines reporting requirements, it does not specify the format for disclosures. XBRL US plans to recommend using structured, machine-readable formats such as XBRL to ensure the disclosures are accurate, accessible, and easy to analyse – something we, of course, support!
With the SEC’s country-wide climate disclosure rule currently frozen, California’s rule has the potential to kick-start climate reporting in the US.
CARB’s solicitation includes questions to inform its approach to implementing these programmes, with comments due by 14 February – we encourage our reader’s to respond, urging CARB to select a machine-readable format for reporting to ensure that information is useful and comparable.
Learn more about CARB’s RFC here.
