Clients who weigh environmental issues into their investment choices can now inspect an online depository of corporate climate-change filings.
Ceres, a sustainability think tank, is offering the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents to the public free of charge on its Web site at www.ceres.org/secsearchtool
It only covers form 10Ks for the Russell 3000, but Ceres says it is hoping to expand its offerings. The aim is to include 8Ks, 10Qs and forms 20F and 40F from foreign-based public companies, said one of the developers of the site, Jim Coburn, investor programs manager for Ceres.
The tool will also be expanded to encompass documents related to fracking and water availability in addition to disclosures on climate and fossil fuel extraction; climate and weather; climate legislation; energy/fuel efficiency; Environmental Protection Agency climate regulation; greenhouse gas emission goals and trading; renewables and clean energy; sea-level rise; and state-level climate rules.
The capability to do side-by-side comparisons of stocks and their environmental disclosures may also be added, Coburn said.
The tool can tell investors if stocks they are considering buying have climate change issues and how seriously the business views environmental risk, he said.
The U.S. became the first nation in the world to require environmental disclosures by publicly held companies in 2010, Coburn said. Since then, Canada and the United Kingdom have followed suit.