SEC Climate Plan Leaves Open Path to Use Global Green Standards

The U.S. has left open the question of whether it will join the international effort to set baseline reporting standards for how public companies disclose information about their impact on the environment, their employees and society.

A proposal this week to require companies listed on American exchanges to detail climate risks to investors did not call for the creation of a U.S. green standard setter. Rather the Securities and Exchange Commission leaned on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (or TCFD) as the basis for its draft rule.

The goal is to base the rule on what companies already ...