Article by Eric Worrell
Australian companies have been warned not to downplay climate risks. This time I agree with the green watchdog.
Warning to Australian companies over mandatory climate reporting
Author: Marion Ray
renew July 26, 2024 – 11:16 AM, first published at 11:12 AMBefore mandatory disclosure was introduced, almost a fifth of Australia's top 200 companies provided little reporting on their climate risks.
A report released by the Australian Superannuation Investors Council on Friday found that most ASX200 members have net zero commitments and most have also set interim targets, which helps investors gauge the credibility of companies' plans.
But gaps remain in the depth and scope of climate reporting, with some companies only partially reporting on their climate risks and 18% taking almost no action.
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More than 6,000 entities will be required to report under new climate-related disclosure requirements in the coming years, and critics worry that more green tape will impose costs on businesses.
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Find out more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8708681/warning-to-aussie-firms-on-mandatory-climate-reporting/
Currently, most companies seem to be trying to avoid including bad news in corporate reporting, apparently glossing over the risks of required climate reporting, using qualitative language rather than quantitatively applying the latest “science.”
But what happens if companies do the opposite? Take the wildest, most extreme IPCC predictions and report in the prospectus that there is nothing they can do to prevent irreversible damage to the company? What if they told investors they should realize this in 10 years or (pick a number) the company will cease to exist due to the ravages of climate change? Are they going to do nothing to avoid this risk because no meaningful action is possible due to rising emissions from China, India and Africa?
This would put the spotlight on the scientists who make these predictions, rather than the companies reporting on looming climate catastrophe.
Because none of these predictions are true. We've had nearly two centuries of global warming, and nothing bad has happened. Year after year, we see climate doomsday predictions fail, but the catastrophes they predicted do not happen.
By taking all these crazy predictions literally and including the most dire predictions in company reports, companies can not only avoid prosecution for not complying with ridiculous climate reporting laws, but they can also expose the most ridiculous extreme climate predictions to More public scrutiny – and doing so would do everyone a lot of good, including themselves.
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