The ESG register · United States

California Climate-Related Financial Risk Act, SB 261

A public risk report every second year, prepared under TCFD or a successor framework.

Identifier

Health & Safety Code § 38533 (SB 261, 2023)

Status

phased

Applies

2026-01-01

Supervisor

California Air Resources Board (CARB)

Who is covered

Companies with over 500 million dollars in global revenue doing business in California.

Requirements in the text

• § 38533(b)

  Climate-related financial risk report

  Companies above the stated revenue threshold doing business in California must biennially prepare a climate-related financial risk report following the TCFD structure or an equivalent framework. The report describes material risks to operations and to the supply chain, and the measures taken or planned to reduce and adapt to them. Where the report is incomplete, the gaps and the plan to close them must be described.

  Example — A technology company describes water scarcity at a semiconductor supplier in Arizona as a material risk and reports a second-source strategy as mitigation.

• § 38533(c)

  Publication on the company's own website

  The report must be made publicly available on the company's own website and linked from the list the regulator maintains. Publication occurs within the stated deadline and the report stays available until the next one is published. A fee may be charged to cover administration of the list.

  Example — The company posts the report at a permanent URL under investor relations and submits the link, rather than embedding it in the annual report PDF.

Counterpart in the other regime

• CSDDD · EU · Direktiv (EU) 2024/1760 — CELEX 32024L1760
• CSRD · EU · Direktiv (EU) 2022/2464 — CELEX 32022L2464

Official source — California Legislative Information, SB 261 · read 2026-09-01 · Value chain and due diligence