Cynthia Mabry and Stacey Mitchell Featured in Law.com Q&A on Responding to Climate Change and ESG
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Law.com has published a Q&A, “Responding to Climate Change and ESG,” with Cynthia Mabry, a corporate partner at Akin Gump and co-leader of the firm’s climate change work, and environment and natural resources partner Stacey Mitchell, who co-leads the firm’s ESG and climate change work.
With the SEC having announced earlier this year that it would increase its focus on climate-related disclosure in public company filings, Mabry and Mitchell spoke about the likelihood of increased complexities and costs associated with changes to the commission’s interpretive guidance.
The conversation began with Mabry and Mitchell noting that ESG refers to “the set of environmental, social and governance issues that many companies, investors and other stakeholders address on a voluntary basis through targeted initiatives, programs and disclosure.” They then explained why it matters to the SEC and whether more regulatory requirements mandating ESG disclosures are warranted.
Mabry and Mitchell also touched on some of the steps that company executives and officers should take to ensure compliance with changes to the past guidance. They said this includes reviewing existing climate disclosures as well as reviewing “past statements and goals on climate change and other ESG metrics” and comparing them to what the company is doing now.
To read the Q&A in its entirety, please click here.
