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April 2024 Advocacy Newsletter
Summary:
In March, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) published draft disclosure standards for climate-related disclosures and disclosure of sustainability-related information.
This is an important step forward for investors. Standardized sustainability and climate disclosures will allow them to better understand and compare the risks and opportunities associated with different issuers. It also helps them act on climate and sustainability-related commitments they have made with respect to their portfolios. For example, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, with over 315 signatories representing US$57 trillion in assets under management, has committed to achieving net zero portfolios by 2050.
The CAC looks forward to commenting on the CSSB’s draft standards, and we hope the CSSB is able to finalize its standards quickly. We also hope the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) will follow through on their plans to publish revised rule proposals on climate-related disclosure once the CSSB’s standards are finalized. Without a common set of rules, issuers are left to navigate a complex web of competing disclosure standards and methodologies published by a variety of organizations. As Professor Janis Sarra at UBC observes, this leaves issuers “increasingly vulnerable to litigation risk as they try, on an ad hoc basis, to craft disclosure that meets regulatory and civil liability materiality standards.” As such, standardized disclosure rules help issuers’ management teams as well as investors. Here’s hoping the CSA remains mindful of this reality as it considers the path forward.