SEC Rules Climate Change Disclosure Mandatory

On January 27, 2010 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that publicly traded companies must disclose risks from climate change. This ruling is a huge deal. It is the first time that the SEC has singled out climate change as a threat to companies. The risks were named as:

1. Physical factors: i.e. water shortage, famines, sea level rise, and natural disasters.

2. Potential legislation: i.e. establishing a price to pollute carbon dioxide emissions.

3. International accords: i.e. countries agree on fixed reductions of emissions or an international carbon market is created.

4. Legal consequences, policies, and technological advancement: i.e. climate related lawsuits, renewable energy targets mandated by government, new equipment that helps/hurts a business.

The SEC made it clear that they were not projecting that climate legislation would be passed. Instead, they are preparing for possible risks that publicly traded companies could face due to climate change.

Learn more: Securities and Exchange Commission

Portugal Makes Cork Fly

Cork is a $1.4 billion industry in Portugal, which exports approximately 157,000 tons (just over half the world’s total) of cork annually. The cork industry is an important provider of jobs as well as one of the world’s greenest industries since cork can be regularly harvested without damaging the trees. In recent years, however, demand for the naturally fire retardant wood has waned in light of many wine companies looking for more affordable replacements for wine bottle closures, such as metal screw caps.

Instead of focusing on recovering market share, several companies have partnered to form the Aerocork project, which has been researching new applications for cork composite materials. Ironically, as cork wine stoppers are being replaced with plastic and metal closures, Aerocork is looking to replace plastic PVC used in light aircraft fuselage and wings with its cork composite material. Cork’s fire-retardant properties have already made it the go-to material for thermal protection coating in space shuttle fuel tanks.

With recent jumps in oil prices, oil-based plastic PVC has become too costly, both financially and ecologically. DynAero, a French-owned aircraft company in Portugal, has been looking for a replacement material that is both affordable and environmentally responsible. The company is currently working on a cork plane prototype, which will be completed this year.

Learn more: Reuters