Some of the largest social media and technology companies in the country have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to mandate that public corporations make regular climate disclosures to their shareholders.

Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon, Autodesk, eBay, Facebook, Intel and Salesforce made the comments in a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler on Friday in response to an SEC request for public comment on ESG disclosures.

Their letter can be found here: https://www.sec.gov/comments/climate-disclosure/cll12-8907252-244227.pdf

"We believe that climate disclosures are critical to ensure that companies follow through on stated climate commitments and to track collective progress towards addressing global warming and building a prosperous, resilient zero-carbon economy," the tech giants wrote.

“We believe that in order for such disclosures to be meaningful and comparable, they should leverage widely-recognized frameworks and standards when possible,” the firms added.

In the letter, the group said the SEC should use a principles-based framework to require companies to report on greenhouse gas emissions using “relevant global standards” to ensure disclosures are consistent and comparable to one another.

“To the extent that there are recognized global standards for required metrics, such as the World Resources Institute GHG Protocol, these standards should be reflected in climate reporting frameworks. The extensive work that has already been done to establish and harmonize frameworks and standards for climate reporting should be leveraged in the SEC’s initiatives in order to minimize duplication of efforts, increase consistency and comparability, reduce reporting burden, and quickly propose and implement disclosure requirements,” the group said.

The tech giants also suggested that by using existing frameworks, which have already been subject to review, the SEC will “decrease the need for substantive re-deliberations.”

The group also asked the SEC to make it possible for corporations to provide updated climate-related disclosures outside of SEC-mandated filings to reduce liability.

“We recommend these disclosures be furnished via separate climate reporting to the SEC. Given that climate disclosures rely on estimates and assumptions that involve inherent uncertainty, it is important not to subject companies to undue liability, including from private parties. Also, reporting deadlines should allow sufficient time for companies to gather and validate information obtained from third-party providers,” the group said.

The group told the SEC that collectively it has purchased 21 gigawatts of clean energy and each aims to procure 100% renewable energy. “Many of us are members of the U.N. Race to Zero and America is All In campaigns. The impact of these efforts are substantial, considering our role as a job creators with nearly 1.7 million employees (as of last fiscal year end),” the companies said.

While the tech industry has been a vocal proponent on climate issues, some critics and employees have urged the companies themselves to do better. For instance, hundreds of Amazon employees walked out of the firm’s Seattle headquarters in 2019, as did employees in Amazon offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and other cities, as part of a global “climate strike” to urge CEO Jeff Bezos and the rest of senior management to take more urgent action.

As a result, Amazon is committed to the goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, a decade earlier than called for under the United Nations Paris Agreement, Bezos said. As part of that initiative, he said, Amazon will be using 100% renewable energy by 2030, a goal the employees’ had been seeking.