Two pending California bills (SB 261 and SB 253) that would require large corporations to report their emissions are making progress through the state’s Senate.  SB 253 requires companies doing business in California with annual revenues over $1 billion to report their Scope 1, 2 and, 3 emissions to a state board and have that information audited by a third party.  These types of emissions include direct, indirect and supply chain related emissions.  SB 253 is similar in many respects to new emissions reporting rules that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed at the federal level for publicly traded companies. SB 261 requires companies doing business in California with annual revenues over $500 million to disclose material risk of financial harms due to “physical and transition risks” determined by the state’s climate change task force.   

Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved SB 253 and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved SB 261.  The full Senate will now decide whether to approve each of these bills, which is expected, after which they will be considered by the Assembly.