GAO to meet regulators on corporate green liability
Date: 10-Jan-03
Country: USA
Three U.S. senators prompted the action by an October letter to the GAO that asked whether the Securities and Exchange Commission required companies to report enough about green risks and costs to shareholders.
The Senators, James Jeffords, a Vermont Independent, Democrat Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, and Jon Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat, were interested in liability risks particularly to shareholders in energy companies.
Energy concerns that produce fossil fuels oil, natural gas, and coal produce substantial amounts of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, that scientists say are one of the causes of global warming.
Munich Re (MUVGn.DE), the German reinsurance company, estimates that global warming could cost $300 billion annually by 2050. A warmer world could threaten agriculture, tourism and airports, particularly in nations near sea level.
"GAO has staffed the job and will be meeting about the request with SEC," said a GAO spokesman, who said it would likely be two weeks before any further decisions on the request.