The California state government has passed legislation that would require Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions disclosures from public and private companies operating in the state that generate over $1 billion in annual revenue.
Senate Bill 253, known as the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to review a wave of public comments regarding its proposed climate disclosure rule.
“This has far more implications than the SEC’s rule…Scope 3 is very important, and for a lot of companies, it is 90% or more of the company’s carbon emissions,” said Senator Scott Wiener, who introduced the bill, in an interview with the Washington Post.
The bill had passed the state senate last year, but had failed the assembly by only one vote, this year however the bill passed with 41 votes in favor and 20 votes against.
In a statement following the bill’s passing, Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, said “Clear and standardized reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is the bedrock of sound investor decision-making on climate risk. The California Legislature’s passage of SB 253 follows stringent regulatory disclosure requirements being developed in the EU and the U.K.”
Fugere added that the passage of the bill is “yet another signal that full-Scope 1 to 3 emissions reporting is the new norm, not the exception.”