California’s Climate Disclosure Regulations: An All-in-One Guide for Enterprises
In September 2024, California’s governor signed SB 219 into (adding to already signed SB 253 / SB 261 / AB 1305). California is the leading state to focus on a Climate Action agenda. The California Air Regulation Body (CARB) is an agency with a focus on getting feedback for SB 219 (till Feb 14 2025), yet one thing is certain that public and private companies conducting business in California will be required to report their Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3 emissions for the year 2025 (reporting in early 2026) as well as assurance requirements. SB 253 and SB 261, both enacted in 2023, require business entities formed under the laws of California, the laws of any other state of the United States or the District of Columbia, or under an act of the Congress of the United States (“US-based entities”) to report specified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate related financial risks. The disclosures required under these laws will, among other things, improve transparency from companies regarding their GHG emissions and climate-related risk management practices to better inform the decision-making of Californian consumers, investors, and members of the public. The legislation will improve access to consistent, standardized information from the largest companies doing business in California regarding their GHG emissions and the risks they face from the impacts of climate change. SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, requires US-based entities with more than $1 billion in annual revenue doing business in California to annually report all direct GHG emissions (scope 1), indirect GHG emissions from consumed energy (scope 2) and indirect upstream and downstream GHG emissions (scope 3). SB 219 amends parts of SB 253 regarding regulatory timelines and the timing of scope 3 emissions reporting, fee payment, and other provisions. SB 261, the Climate Related Financial Risk Act, requires US-based entities with more than $500 million in annual revenue doing business in California to biennially report any climate-related financial risks they have identified and any measures they have adopted to reduce and adapt to those risks. SB 219 amends parts of SB 261 on the timing of fee payment, among other provisions. Check out this infographic that shows the timeline of all events. Check out this infographic for a quick summary. While there are ongoing litigations and discussions on the applicability, standards in regulation, data reporting and climate related corporate data accountability act, and financial risk disclosure, one thing is certain that if you have not yet started on this journey you must begin sooner than later. Adhering to new regulations requires a cross-functional organizational effort to get a program in place. Specifically for an upstream and downstream supply chain, you would have to ensure that you provide them with an easy-to-access tool in order to have a secured and auditable data collection of your emission data. Companies operating across jurisdictions should align with all relevant climate disclosure regulations simultaneously to streamline reporting and close compliance gaps. This approach is particularly efficient given the overlap between SB 219, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other sustainability reporting. Our experts can help you here to navigate this. We can help to get started on for California’s Climate Disclosure Regulations (SB 253 / SB 261 / AB 1305 / SB 219) please click here to get started.