“With the Securities and Exchange Commission resolute in its efforts to establish new disclosure requirements related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, companies appear increasingly resigned to some measure of mandatory reporting.

But these companies haven’t yet given up: in an effort to contain litigation risk, they continue to press the SEC to show some flexibility in the means by which ESG risks are reported.

The distinction between furnishing and filing climate change disclosures is not purely semantic, as filed disclosures are held to a higher regulatory standard than those that are merely furnished.”

[COMMENTARY] One can see why companies are concerned — as should their shareholders. Such a distinction ‘between furnishing and filing climate change disclosures’ might well be the case in many other jurisdictions too.
Will Mandated ESG Disclosures Lead to Increased Litigation Risk? By Bracewell LLP, July 2, 2021, JD Supra, USA.