Good news for U.S. shareholders who are concerned about the carbon risks that companies may be harboring. This week, the SEC reversed a previous rule that prevented investors from directly asking companies about their balance sheet exposure to greenhouse gas emission policies and other issues. In the past, companies had the option of requesting a no-action letter from the SEC and, if granted, not be required to respond to shareholder inquiries.

As outlined in SEC Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14E (CF), there has been “a marked increase in the number of no-action requests in which companies seek to exclude proposals as relating to an evaluation of risk. In these requests, companies have frequently argued that proposals that do not explicitly request an evaluation of risk are nonetheless excludable under Rule 14a-8(i)(7) because they would require the company to engage in risk assessment.”

Moving forward, the SEC will be changing how it analyzes companies’ “no-action” requests on shareholder proposals relating to environmental, financial or health risks. SEC Commissioner Elisse Walters said that the agency is also considering new guidance that requires greater carbon disclosure in regular filings with the Commission. It’s only a matter of time before many large U.S. companies will need to put carbon accounting at the top of the priority list.

Apple has made quite a few waves recently in the climate change space. It recently announced its plans to resign from the Chamber of Commerce, citing a preference for the chamber to take a more “progressive stance” on climate change. 

However, what interests us the most has been Apple’s public disclosure of a new green effort to be more forthcoming about how it accounts for its carbon footprint. Apple is addressing what will be a key issue in GHG management: accounting for carbon emissions across an organization’s entire supply chain. BusinessWeek initially reported the story and you can find more information on Apple’s environment site.

This all ties back to the growing adoption of supply chain environmentalism by retailers and manufacturers that Larry Goldenhersh, CEO of Enviance, has been discussing over the last year. You can check out his recent article entitled "Competition in a New Era of Supply Chain Environmentalism" at ClimateBiz.com.

UPS announced recently that they’ve effectively become the first small package carrier to offer CO2 offsets to customers. Bryan Nelson of Mother Nature Network said it best: “Brown has gone green!”

For an extra 5 to 20 cents per package, customers can request to offset the carbon emitted from shipment deliveries. The price includes the cost of calculation, administrative costs associated with the service and the cost of the offsets. As an incentive for customers to participate in the program, UPS will match the offset purchases up to $1 million.

A carbon offset is a financial instrument aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon offsets are measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) and may represent six primary categories of greenhouse gases.

UPS will purchase Gold Standard, Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS), and Climate Action Reserve (CAR) certified offsets for its US customers with assigned customer shipping numbers. It plans to roll out the service to everyone next year.

UPS has developed a website for information on its many green initiatives at http://www.carbonneutral.ups.com/.