On February 2, 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an interpretative release to provide guidance to public companies regarding the applicability of the SEC’s existing disclosure requirements to “climate change” issues (“the Guidance”). See the complete SEC guidance here. The Guidance does not make new law or modify existing law, but rather serves to “remind” public companies of their obligation under existing SEC requirements to consider the relevance of climate change issues and, as necessary, disclose any material risks posed by those issues with respect to the company’s financial condition and results of operations. Notably, however, the SEC suggests that a company should consider the actual physical impacts of climate change on the company’s operations and results, including impacts from severe weather events that may be the result of climate change caused by greenhouse gases.

The practical effect of the Guidance is that it represents a first-of-its-kind touchstone — a conspicuous standard by which the SEC, shareholders, and the public will measure a company’s disclosure with respect to climate change matters. The SEC announced that it plans to monitor the effect of the Guidance on future filings made by public companies. The SEC also announced that it intends to hold a public roundtable on climate change related disclosure matters in the spring of 2010. Based on its review and information gathered from the roundtable, the SEC will consider whether further guidance or rulemaking on this issue is appropriate. Read the entire article here.

For more information regarding the Guidance or with respect to other climate change and environmental issues, please contact Vinson & Elkins lawyers Larry Nettles, Larry Pechacek, or Kristie Tice. Visit our website to learn more about V&E's Climate Change and Environmental Litigation and Regulation practices, or e-mail one of the V&E Climate Change or Environmental Litigation and Regulation practice contacts.