Large businesses in California will have to disclose a wide range of planet-warming emissions under a new law Californian governor Gavin Newsom signed Saturday, October 7 – the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the nation.
The law (called SB 253), will bring more transparency to the public about how big businesses contribute to climate change, and it could nudge them to evaluate how they can reduce their emissions, advocates say. They argue many businesses already disclose some of their emissions to the state.
But the California Chamber of Commerce, agricultural groups, and oil giants that oppose the law say it will create new mandates for companies that don't have the experience or expertise to accurately report their indirect emissions. They also say it is too soon to implement the requirements at a time when the federal government is weighing emissions disclosure rules for public companies. That includes things like emissions from operating a building or store as well as those from activities like employee business travel and transporting their products. The measure could create "duplicative" work if the federal standards are adopted, the chamber and other groups wrote in an alert opposing the bill.
California has made major strides to set trends in climate policy in recent years. The state has set out to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, expand renewable energy, and limit rail pollution. By 2030, the state plans to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below what they were in 1990.
Major companies, including Apple and Patagonia, came out in support of the bill, saying they already disclose much of their emissions. Christiana Figueres, a key former United Nations official behind the 2015 Paris climate agreement, said in a letter that the bill would be a "crucial catalyst in mobilizing the private sector to solve climate change."