ABSTRACT
For comparative purposes, Chapter 2 analyses selected ESG-related laws and stock exchange rules in the United States and China. With regard to the United States, Chapter 2 features both the legal status on the federal and states’ level and shows the SEC's failed efforts to put into effect Final Climate Disclosure Rules, the significant role of state legislation (in particular California, New York and Colorado) in terms of companies’ climate-related disclosure obligations, the tremendous division between Republicans and Democrats, the emergence of anti-ESG laws in Republican-dominated states and the important role of the US Supreme Court. The China subchapter centres on the recently adopted sustainability reporting guidelines of the Shanghai and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange which include provisions on the disclosure of Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 GHG emissions and introduce, similar to the CSRD/ESRS, a double materiality standard.
