Apple became the first major U.S. publicly traded company to support mandatory climate change disclosure rules from the SEC.
"We're determined to do our part to fight climate change & believe transparency is an important part of this. Apple has publicly disclosed our greenhouse gas emissions for a decade, and we believe other companies should do the same," Lisa P. Jackson, Apple vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, tweeted Tuesday.
Ms. Jackson referenced a statement from Arvin Ganesan, who directs Apple's global energy and environmental policy, that the company believes the Securities and Exchange Commission should require companies to publicly disclose information audited by a third party that covers all scopes of emissions, direct and indirect, and the value chain.
Apple is "aiming to be a ripple in the pond that helps create a much larger change," Mr. Ganesan said in the statement. "Bold action is possible."
Consistent disclosure will benefit companies as well as investors and others, by helping them establish best practices and foster competition, Mr. Ganesan said.
Veena Ramani, Ceres senior program director of capital market systems, said the push for consistent climate change disclosure "is a narrative that we have heard from investors for a long time. Investors need to make investment decisions and they really need the information. What Apple is saying is that companies need the information, too. They need information about their own risk exposure which can help them make decisions about strategy," Ms. Ramani said in an interview.
Ceres officials expect to hear from more companies supporting mandated disclosure of decision-useful climate-related information.
"We need to hear from the market," Ms. Ramani said.
