Financial Executives International (FEI) and Persefoni collaborated on research to examine how corporate finance functions are evolving in response to the SEC climate proposal. Our survey of more than 50 finance professionals at firms with average revenue of more than $5 billion per year covered topics such as ESG frameworks and standards, preparer readiness, challenges in the proposal, increased ESG reporting, and the critical technological adoption trends to meet the proposal’s requirements.
Chief Financial Officers View Climate Disclosure as Their #1 New Priority
Finance leaders at large public companies have already increased and are continuing to grow the time and attention they are investing in preparing to comply with the reporting requirements of the SEC proposal and the standards and frameworks foundational to new regulatory trends.
💡 94% are preparing to focus on the SEC climate proposal in the next year
💡 Every respondent expects their finance function’s role in designing, implementing, and maintaining controls will increase due to the SEC climate proposal
💡 76% are increasing internal reporting efforts as a result of the SEC climate proposal
Scope 3 Data Is the Biggest Compliance Challenge
Overall, the biggest challenge associated with meeting the reporting requirements from the SEC’s climate proposal as reported by respondents was the difficulty of obtaining scope 3 data. Finance professionals are adopting technology to solve the component they are least prepared for, the scope 3 challenge, regardless of whether it will be included in the proposal.
💡 Scope 3 data and climate data complexity represent the top challenges for complying with the SEC proposal
💡 70% are at least planning to implement technology solutions to meet the increased reporting requirements from the SEC’s climate proposal
To learn more about how finance is evolving to meet new climate data demands, read our report How Corporate Finance is Preparing for Climate Disclosures & Best Practices.
To take action on your organization’s carbon footprint now, check out Persefoni for Business and schedule a demo.
