Company: VGASW
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-015480
Chunk: 60

Company: Verde Clean Fuels, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 60
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25

Table of Contents

contractors, could result in liability under environmental, health and safety laws. The costs of liability could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Increased focus on sustainability and ESG matters could impact our operations and expose us to additional risks.

Companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders, including investor advocacy groups, proxy advisory firms, certain institutional investors, and lenders, investment funds and other influential investors and rating agencies, related to their ESG and sustainability practices. The success of our business in part depends on customers and financial institutions viewing our business and operations as having a positive ESG profile. Increasing attention to, and societal expectations regarding, climate change, human rights, and other ESG topics may require us to make certain changes to our business operations to satisfy the expectations of customers and financial institutions. Additionally, our customers may be driven to purchase our fuel products due to their own sustainability or ESG commitments, which may entail holding their suppliers — including us — to ESG standards that go beyond compliance with laws and regulations and our ability to comply with such standards. Failure to maintain operations that align with such “beyond compliance” standards may negatively impact our reputation, cause potential customers to not do business with us or otherwise hurt demand for our products. More broadly, if we do not adapt to or comply with investor or other stakeholder expectations and standards on ESG and sustainability matters as they continue to evolve, or if we are perceived to have not responded appropriately or quickly enough to growing concern for ESG and sustainability issues, regardless of whether there is a regulatory or legal requirement to do so, we may suffer from reputational damage and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected. 

In addition, growing interest on the part of stakeholders regarding sustainability information and growing scrutiny of sustainability-related claims and disclosure has also increased the risk that companies could be perceived as, or accused of, making inaccurate or misleading statements, often referred to as “greenwashing.” Such perception or accusation could damage our reputation and result in litigation or regulatory actions. Further, organizations that provide information to investors on corporate governance and related matters have developed ratings processes for evaluating companies on their approach to ESG matters. Such ratings are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. Unfavorable ESG ratings could lead to increased negative investor sentiment toward us and our industry and to the diversion of investment to other industries, which could have a negative impact on our stock