According to White & Case based on its review of 2019 and 2020 Form 10-Ks and proxy statements, all of the 50 largest Fortune 100 companies increased their ESG disclosure in their proxy statements and 42% increased their ESG disclosure in their Form 10-Ks year-over-year, with the most significant increases observed in these seven categories:
Also noteworthy: 22% of companies disclosed Nom/Gov Committee oversight of their ESG matters; 25% identified oversight by a more focused committee such as a Sustainability Committee or a Public Issues and Contributions Committee. Other companies disclosed E&S oversight by the board or a mix of various board committees.
The report summarizes the most prevalent disclosure topics and provides examples within each of the seven categories - with human capital management, corporate culture, and board ESG oversight topics showing the greatest increases in proxy disclosure year-over-year, and Form 10-Ks reflecting the greatest increases on environmental and sustainability matters, human capital management, and corporate culture and supply chain management (tied). Overall, disclosures tended to be qualitative rather than quantitative.
Among other key takeaways, the firm advises companies to assess ESG information for materiality and cautions against inclusion of non-material disclosure in SEC filings.
See our recently released Society/Gibson Dunn & Crutcher: "ESG Legal Update: What Corporate Governance & ESG Professionals Need to Know" and numerous additional resources on our Sustainability/ESG page. This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!