I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1780 

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require disclosures related 

to the Paris Climate Agreement, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require 

disclosures related to the Paris Climate Agreement, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paris Climate Agree5 ment Disclosure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) 197 parties, including the United States, 

9 are parties to the United Nations Framework Con10 vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the prinVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:46 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1780.IH H1780

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1 cipal framework to stabilize greenhouse gas con2 centrations at a level that would prevent dangerous 

3 human-induced interference with the climate system. 

4 (2) On December 12, 2015, parties of the 

5 UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement, the first 

6 comprehensive agreement among all nations to keep 

7 global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. 

8 (3) The Paris Agreement aims to strengthen 

9 the global response to the threat of climate change 

10 by holding the increase in the global average tem11 perature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre12 industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the 

13 temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above 

14 pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would sig15 nificantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate 

16 change. 

17 (4) The ‘‘Special Report on Global Warming of 

18 1.5 °C’’ by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

19 Change found that at 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, 

20 climate-related risks to human health, livelihoods, 

21 food security, human security, water supply, and 

22 economic growth will all increase, and will increase 

23 even more at 2 degrees Celsius warming. 

24 (5) In 2017, the World Economic Forum issued 

25 the Compact for Responsive and Responsible LeadVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:46 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1780.IH H1780

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1 ership with 140 CEOs pledging to align their cor2 porate values and strategies with the United Na3 tion’s Sustainable Development Goals. 

4 (6) In September 2020, the World Economic 

5 Forum and its International Business Council re6 leased Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics—a set of en7 vironmental, social and governance metrics and dis8 closures which measure the long-term enterprise 

9 value creation for all stakeholders. 

10 (7) The September 2020 World Economic 

11 Forum report recognizes that there is an emerging 

12 consensus among companies that long-term value is 

13 most effectively created by serving the interests of 

14 all stakeholders. 

15 (8) On January 26, 2021, 61 CEOs of some of 

16 the world’s largest companies publicly endorsed the 

17 Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics. 

18 (9) One of the core metrics and disclosures de19 fined in the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics is for 

20 companies to disclose whether they have set, or have 

21 committed to set, greenhouse gas emissions targets 

22 that are in line with the goals of the Paris Agree23 ment. 


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1 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURES RELATED TO GREENHOUSE GAS 

2 EMISSIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 13 of the Securities Ex4 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(s) DISCLOSURES RELATED TO THE PARIS CLI7 MATE AGREEMENT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each issuer required to file 

9 an annual report under subsection (a) shall include 

10 in such report the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Whether the issuer has set, or has 

12 committed to achieve, targets that are a balance 

13 between greenhouse gas emissions and remov14 als, at a pace consistent with limiting global 

15 warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and 

16 pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Cel17 sius. 

18 ‘‘(B) If the issuer is committed to setting 

19 such greenhouse gas emission targets in the fu20 ture, but not at the present— 

21 ‘‘(i) by which year the issuer plans to 

22 commit to such greenhouse gas emission 

23 targets; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) a detailed explanation for such 

25 position. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Actions and steps the issuer has 

2 taken over the preceding year to achieve such 

3 greenhouse gas emission targets. 

4 ‘‘(D) Actions and steps the issuer plans to 

5 pursue in the forthcoming year to achieve such 

6 greenhouse gas emission targets. 

7 ‘‘(E) If the issuer has not set, and does 

8 not plan on committing to set, such greenhouse 

9 gas emission targets— 

10 ‘‘(i) a statement to that effect; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a detailed explanation of— 

12 ‘‘(I) why the issuer is not plan13 ning on pursuing such greenhouse gas 

14 emission targets; and 

15 ‘‘(II) whether the issuer supports 

16 the temperature goals outlined in sub17 paragraph (A) of this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

19 ‘‘(A) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term 

20 ‘greenhouse gas’ means carbon dioxide, 

21 hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, 

22 perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, nitrogen, 

23 triflouride, and chlorofluorocarbons. 

24 ‘‘(B) GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.—The 

25 term ‘greenhouse gas emissions’ means the 


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1 emissions of greenhouse gases expressed in 

2 terms of metric tons of carbon dioxide equiva3 lent. 

4 ‘‘(C) PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT.—The 

5 term ‘Paris Climate Agreement’ means the 

6 international agreement adopted by 196 parties, 

7 including the United States, at the 21st Con8 ference of Parties to the United Nations 

9 Framework Convention on Climate Change in 

10 Paris, France on December 12, 2015. 

11 ‘‘(D) TEMPERATURE GOALS OF THE PARIS

12 CLIMATE AGREEMENT.—The term ‘temperature 

13 goals of the Paris Climate Agreement’ means— 

14 ‘‘(i) a collective, long-term objective to 

15 hold the greenhouse gas emissions-induced 

16 increase in temperature to well below 2 de17 gree Celsius; 

18 ‘‘(ii) a goal to pursue efforts to limit 

19 the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees 

20 Celsius above the pre-industrial level; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a goal to achieve net-zero emis22 sions before 2050. 

23 ‘‘(E) REMOVALS.—The term ‘removals’ 

24 means anthropogenic removals from the atmos25 phere by any process, activity or mechanism of 


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1 greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a 

2 greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.’’. 

3 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the end of the 1- 

4 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission shall issue 

6 final rules to carry out the amendment made by subsection 

7 (a). 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 13(s) of the Securi9 ties Exchange Act of 1934, as added by subsection (a), 

10 shall take effect on the effective date of the rules issued 

11 pursuant to subsection (b). 

Æ 


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