In a development of potentially great significance for climate change disclosure and reporting issues, on August 27, 2008, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced (here) that Xcel Energy had entered a “binding and enforceable agreement” requiring the company “to disclose the financial risks that climate change poses to investors.” Xcel’s announcement regarding
Environmental Liability
Environmental Disclosure Issues
In a recent post (here), I wrote about the September 18, 2007 petition submitted to the SEC by several environmental groups, seeking to persuade the SEC to institute rules requiring companies to assess and fully disclose their financial risks from climate change. These groups clearly want to use the SEC’s disclosure requirements to…
Temperature Rises on Climate Change Disclosure Issues
In prior posts (refer here) and other publications (here), I have written about the growing potential exposure to directors and officers of publicly traded companies arising from global climate change concerns. My views have been met with some interest, but also with significant skepticism. But while there are admittedly as yet no…
A Comprehensive Look at Climate Change Liability Risks
In an earlier post (here), I wrote about global climate change and D & O risk. The potential challenge to D & O insurers from the risks and potential liabilities of global climate change is only a part of the full range of liability exposures the insurance industry potentially faces as a result…
Climate Change and D & O Risk
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark April 2, 2007 decision in Massachusetts v. EPA (here) may represent a turning point in the evolving governmental response to global warming. As discussed below, the decision itself and the regulatory, legislative and litigation consequences that will likely follow could have important implications for many publicly traded…