New SEC rule would require companies to disclose climate change risks

• A proposed rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission would require U.S. companies disclose the risks they face from climate change.
• The rule would allow investors to judge how well a company is prepared for the future costs of a warming planet.
• The financial risks posed by a changing climate are real and expensive. Last year weather and fire disasters in the U.S. caused more than $145 billion in damages.

Would you invest in a winery whose vineyards might not be able to grow grapes in a decade? Take a job at a factory that might be underwater in 15 years? Buy hamburger from a company that’s burning the Brazilian savanna to grow soybeans to feed cattle?

Groundbreaking federal regulation expected to be unveiled Monday could change how Americans – and American companies – think about climate change. The Securities and Exchange Commission will meet to discuss whether public companies must disclose the risks they face from global warming.