The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:32:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png ESG Disclosure – Keeping Pace with Developments Affecting Investors, Public Companies and the Capital Markets – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 ESG Disclosure – Keeping Pace with Developments Affecting Investors, Public Companies and the Capital Markets https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/03/13/esg-disclosure-keeping-pace-with-developments-affecting-investors-public-companies-and-the-capital-markets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=esg-disclosure-keeping-pace-with-developments-affecting-investors-public-companies-and-the-capital-markets https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/03/13/esg-disclosure-keeping-pace-with-developments-affecting-investors-public-companies-and-the-capital-markets/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2021 14:35:43 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=136949?d=20210313093543EST Posted by John Coates, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on Saturday, March 13, 2021
Editor's Note:

John Coates is Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This post is based on his remarks at the 33rd Annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute. The views expressed in the post are those of Mr. Coates, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Staff.

Not long ago, the title of this statement would have needed to unpack “ESG” into Environmental, Social and Governance. That ESG no longer needs to be explained illustrates how important these issues have become to today’s investors, public companies and capital markets. It also illustrates the pace of ESG developments. There remains substantial debate over the precise contents and details of what ESG disclosures might or should encompass. Part of the difficulty is in the fact that ESG is at the same time very broad, touching every company in some manner, but also quite specific in that the ESG issues companies face can vary significantly based on their industry, geographic location and other factors. As such, there is no one set of metrics that properly covers all ESG issues for all companies. Moreover, the landscape is changing rapidly so issues that yesterday were only peripheral today are taking on greater importance. It is against this backdrop that I think about the regulation of ESG disclosures.

Going forward, I believe SEC policy on ESG disclosures will need to be both adaptive and innovative. We can and should continue to adapt existing rules and standards to the realities of climate risk, for example, and the fact that investors increasingly are asking for ESG information to help them make informed investment and voting decisions. We will also need to be open to and supportive of innovation—in both institutions and policies on the content, format and process for developing ESG disclosures.

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