Behind The SEC Curtain On Climate Rules - Kristina Wyatt, Fmr SEC Climate Risk Task Force, now at Persefoni

Oct 4, 2022

“The climate emergency is urgent and climate risk is financial risk. And the SEC is all about the protection of investors and the financial markets. And if you have this looming financial risk, that's not being adequately addressed. …And, investors were saying, look, the information that we're getting just doesn't cut it. It's not sufficiently clear, consistent, comparable, reliable. We need more and we need the SEC to step in and provide clearer guidance, clearer rules to help ensure that investors are getting the information that they need.”

Kristina Wyatt on Electric Ladies Podcast

We see the wrath of climate change vividly today in the damage from Hurricanes Ian and Fiona -- which also reflects the financial risk and impact of climate change. That's why the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, is finalizing its climate risk disclosure rules right now. How did they develop them? Today you'll find out.

This episode of Electric Ladies podcast takes you literally into the SEC’s room where those deliberations happened. Listen to Kristina Wyatt who literally led the SEC’s Task Force developing these rules, explain how they did it and what happens next in this riveting conversation with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson. Kristina’s formal title was Senior Counsel for Climate and ESG to the Director of the Division of Corporate Finance, and now she’s SVP of Global Regulatory Climate Disclosure and Deputy General Counsel of Persefoni.

You’ll hear:

• How the SEC Task Force literally developed the proposed climate risk disclosure rules – and what happens next.
• Whose input they sought out to achieve their goals of serving investors and providing clarity.
• How to make sense of the different ESG-related standards
• Why this is a great time for a career with purpose
• Plus, insightful career advice.

And much more!

“What's happening now is that as this focus on climate….on diversity equity, and inclusion, all of these things are making their way up to the board. They're making their way to the C-suite, they're becoming central investor issues. They're financial issues…. What we need to have is these women who are sitting over in the CSOs office to make sure that they've got the chops on the financial piece, right? So, if you need to take courses, learn about how to read financial statements, get very familiar with your company’s financials, understand balance sheets, understand income statements, understand cash flow statements and how they work so that you can really speak the financial talk and understand how your sustainability issues integrate with your financial issues.” Kristina Wyatt on Electric Ladies podcast

Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.

You’ll also want to listen to:

• Joan Michelson on Eisner Amper’s “Fast Forward” podcast about “Why ESG Matters.
• Bridget Hughes, Donnelly Financial Solutions, on ESG software and what to look for.
• Natalie Jaresko, former Finance Minister of Ukraine, on the hidden power of ESG
• Michele Wucker, thought leaders and author of “You Are What You Risk: The New Art & Science to Navigating an Uncertain World.”

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