The Ontario Securities Commission has announced that it will undertake a review of corporate governance practices and environmental disclosure requirements in 2010, as part of a broader corporate sustainability reporting initiative.
What’s the significance of this announcement? The review will result in a staff notice by the end of this year providing guidance on compliance with existing environmental disclosure requirements under National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations. But many observers also feel that this initiative is designed to bring Canadian practice in line with developments in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to provide public companies with interpretive guidance on existing SEC disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change. Although in its press release, the SEC was careful to sidestep any official position on the climate change debate, it’s clear that it is becoming part of the US corporate reporting framework. And there’s every reason to believe that it will do the same on this side of the border.
Finance & Accounting PolicyPro now includes a chapter covering many aspects of environmental management, including environmental protection, hazardous material management, recycling, energy conservation, sustainability, and emissions trading.
Colin Braithwaite
First Reference Internal Controls Managing Editor
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