The SB 253 Journey

The work to design, advance and pass into law California’s Corporate Climate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) - and now the efforts to ensure its successful implementation - began in 2020 when Carbon Accountable was launched. After spending a year bringing together data and disclosure experts at the Stanford Law School CodeX Climate Data Policy Initiative it was clear that the voluntary and splintered approach to reporting was not going to get us where we needed to go. It was time to stop studying corporate GHG data gaps and do something about it. Given the political stalemate in Washington DC, why not advance a state-based corporate disclosure policy that capitalizes on the fact that California is one of the world’s largest economies and has a long history of providing bold environmental and climate leadership?

From there it was a sprint and a marathon to make history. Carbon Accountable drafted a bill policy, Senator Wiener agreed to author the bill and the first iteration of the bill - SB 260 - was first introduced in January of 2021. With tremendous leadership from Senator Wiener, Carbon Accountable worked alongside fellow co-sponsors California Environmental Voters, Ceres, Inc., The Greenlining Institute to overcome fierce opposition and go on a legislative journey that included 2 bills introductions, 13 votes in Senate and Assembly committees and 4 floor votes before it was passed into law on October 7, 2023. Few opportunities in a career allow you to help shape a law that sets a national precedent, and being there at each stage of its journey has been one of mine.