California to Force Bigger Companies to Disclose Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Operations and Supply Chain

­Believe it or not, but companies aren’t currently required to report their greenhouse gas emissions (for better or worse)…which makes a recently-passed California bill all the more pertinent.

SB 253 would force companies with annual revenues over $1 billion to disclose emissions from their operations, electricity use, and their supply chain and consumer use of their products.

The bill addresses Scope 3 emissions, i.e. “indirect emissions - not included in scope 2 - that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream emissions,” according to one source.

In point of fact, Scope 3 comprises 80-90% of a company’s carbon footprint, which is why they’ve been such a focal point for environmental advocates.

And industry has fought against rules mandating such disclosures. Even Apple, which stands behind such laws, seemed a tad reluctant: “While these emissions can be challenging to measure, they are essential to understanding the full range of a company’s climate impacts,” they said.

For his part, California Senator and bill author Scott Wiener (D) said that, “Despite a massive misinformation campaign by opponents ... SB 253 will make California a global leader in corporate carbon transparency.”

What effect it’ll have on the California business community is anyone’s guess.

Under the terms of the bill, the California Air Resources Board will have to come up with rules governing companies making more than $1 billion, and their disclosure requirements, by 2025.