Two things on Planetary Lifeguard’s nerves this Easter
1. High cost of eggs or ‘eggflation’ 2. transparency on greenhouse gas emissions moving at snail’s pace!
This Easter most people will know approximately what a Chocolate Easter Egg will cost as well as prices for a NETFLIX subscription to a gas station fill-up.
But few know the true cost of a phenomenon impacting us not just on Easter, but every day of our lives–climate change!
This is what’s bothering Planetary Lifeguard™ as hurricanes, flash floods, heat domes and blizzards are taking an ever-steeper toll on people and businesses globally, yet too few know what’s causing them, let alone what they’re costing.
Meanwhile extreme weather is causing property damage and supply chain disruption like never before on earth.
Planetary Lifeguard™ reminds us that in 2023 the United States experienced 28 weather and climate disasters that cost at least $1 billion each. And Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said losses tied to climate change could “cascade through the financial system.”
Against this backdrop, Planetary Lifeguard™ keeps blowing the whistle on climate change, while he and investors clamor for more information that might help them make sound decisions, not to mention enable more people to stay alive.
Think of a hotel chain that owns extensive waterfront property, an agricultural conglomerate susceptible to drought or a shipping company that gets clobbered by weather-related disruptions, or worse, a bridge collapse, thanks to a powerless wayward container ship that made Francis Scott Key fall into the river.
Wouldn’t Investors in these enterprises be better off if companies were forced to disclose the risks they face and what they’re doing, if anything, to prepare? Fortify? Planetary Lifeguard™ certainly thinks so!
Political backlash
The furor over the S.E.C. rules is further proof that climate change has become an integral battleground for the culture wars.
Some reject the idea that companies should not only care about profits but how they’re affecting the environment and society. They’re increasingly attacking what they call “woke capitalism” at many businesses that were once their allies, especially on Wall Street.
Planetary Lifeguard™ was dismayed when in response some financial firms flip-flopped. Recently, companies including JPMorgan, State Street and Pimco all pulled out of a group called Climate Action 100+, an international coalition of money managers that was pushing big companies to address climate issues.
Foreshadowing the potential legal arguments aimed at the S.E.C. rules, some lawmakers are questioning whether the S.E.C. even has the authority to require carbon footprint emissions disclosures.
Some say Congress has not delegated the authority to the S.E.C. to require climate disclosures. Yet even without the S.E.C. rules, disclosing climate risk is occurring.
California and Europe have adopted rules requiring big companies to disclose substantial climate data, including, in some cases, Scope 3 emissions. States like New York and Illinois are considering similar rules.
While lately its rules have been watered down, the S.E.C. continues to push for more transparency that will make emissions and climate risk, if not a focal point, at least part of the financial mainstream.
Planetary Lifeguard™ is happy to see the climate disclosure train at least has left the station, including greenhouse gas emissions disclosure and commends those larger companies that are already, to some degree, disclosing voluntarily.
So thankfully, the process is underway. So, stay tuned folks, but carry an umbrella.
Tom Madden wants to see the S.E.C. require full disclosure from public companies how their products may be affecting climate change and intends to have the character he created Planetary Lifeguard™ keep advocating for that while blowing the whistle at what’s causing such havoc–climate change. When not creating characters, Madden is writing articles and books, or his weekly blog at www.maddenmischief.com or news releases at his PR firm, TransMedia Group.
