Part 1: How Risk Professionals Can Prepare for both the Energy Transition and the SEC’s Mandatory Climate Disclosure Rules
““Corporations today must be ready to demonstrate that they are ESG compliant with actions and results.” ”
““Should I Stay or Should I Go?” ”
Recently, members of the CCRO’s Energy Transition Working Group have been asking a similar question about what to do with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rulemaking - The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.
On the one hand, if we do nothing and wait for the SEC to issue its final rules, then there will be trouble. On the other hand, if we recommend certain action now without knowing exactly where this will all end up, then it could be double.
Even though the chasm between the known and unknow in this case is deep and wide, the job of risk managers is to anticipate change and help our organizations prepare for it as best we can. And we believe effectively managing the energy transition and related reporting requirements, while daunting, represents just another opportunity to deploy our respective governance, risk, and compliance skills.
Our Plan: A Series of Five Webinar Panel Discussions to Establish Our Baseline
Well, like Mick did on his '59 Les Paul Custom, we have decided to slash away and tackle this uncertainty head on by hosting a series of five webinar-based panel discussions on transitioning the energy industry toward a lower carbon-based footprint.
Together, these five panels highlight in a holistic way the key energy transition-related risk areas impacting energy companies, in general, and enterprise risk managers (ERM), in particular.
On June 1, 2023, the Energy Transition Working Group hosted its first webinar panel discussion on these issues, entitled “Regulatory Changes,” which featured CFTC Commissioner Mersinger, Elizabeth Carlson, and Tom Birmingham. A recording of the webinar is available to CCRO members and subscribers here…
Our second webinar panel discussion, entitled “Rating Agencies,” will be held on July 19, 2023, at 9:00 am CST. Click here for program details. During this session, which is free to CCRO members and their key stakeholders, we will hear from our distinguished panelists on the current and future states of the ESG rating industry, what information they are collecting, from whom, and how they are using this information, and the role energy risk managers should play.
The next three panel discissions are entitled “Investment Banks,” “ESG & Carbon Reporting,” and “Carbon Data Governance.” The exact dates for these three webinars is still TBA, so watch the CCRO website & LinkedIn posts for information on them as we coordinate these insightful events.