Corporate Reporting

The Challenge

Despite growing pressure to act on climate change, the largest U.S. corporations are still not reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at the pace required for a healthy and livable future. Most companies do not measure or disclose their full carbon footprint, and those that do often omit the supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions that make up the majority of their impact. This lack of transparency has fueled greenwashing and weakened public confidence in corporate climate pledges. Without standardized, verifiable data, neither regulators nor investors can hold corporations accountable for their climate impact.

The Opportunity

Transparency is the foundation of accountability. By requiring corporations to measure and disclose their full Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, we can create a level playing field, empower investors and consumers, and drive companies to accelerate their decarbonization strategies. That is exactly what SB 253—the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act—achieves. For the first time, more than 5,000 of the largest companies doing business in California will have to use the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to report their emissions publically. This law ensures that standardized, investor-grade data, verified by independent auditors, will be accessible to all Californians. It is a groundbreaking step toward building the transparency and trust needed for effective climate action.

The Work

The work to design, advance and pass into law California’s Corporate Climate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) - and now efforts to ensure its successful implementation - began in 2020 when I launched Carbon Accountable with Michael Schmitz.  After spending a year bringing together data and disclosure experts at the Stanford Law School CodeX Climate Data Policy Initiative it was clear that the voluntary and splintered approach to reporting was not going to get us where we needed to go. It was time to stop studying corporate GHG data gaps and do something about it.  Given the political stalemate in Washington DC, why not advance a state-based corporate disclosure policy that capitalizes on the fact that California is one of the world’s largest economies and has a long history of providing bold environmental and climate leadership?

The rest is history.  Carbon Accountable drafted a bill policy, Senator Wiener agreed to author the bill and the first iteration of the bill - SB 260 - was first introduced in January of 2021. With tremendous leadership from Senator Wiener, Carbon Accountable worked alongside fellow co-sponsors California Environmental Voters, Ceres, Inc., The Greenlining Institute to overcome fierce opposition and go on a legislative journey that included 2 bills introductions, 13 votes in Senate and Assembly committees and 4 floor votes before it was passed into law on October 7, 2023. Few opportunities in a career allow you to help shape a law that sets a national precedent, and being there at each stage of its journey has been one of mine.  Check out some of the stops Carbon Accountable had along the way.

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Data Systems