New or revised governmental regulations and independent studies relating to the effect of our products on health, safety and the environment may affect demand for our products and the cost of producing our products. Initiatives by governments and private interest groups will potentially result in increased toxicological testing and risk assessments of a wide variety of chemicals, including chemicals used or produced by us. New or revised legislation or regulations could result in additional use restrictions and/or bans of certain chemicals. For example, in the EU, the European Commission as part of its Green Deal published the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment (“CSS”). The CSS sets forth far-reaching plans for introducing significant changes to the EU regulatory frameworks for chemicals including the Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (“REACH”), and the Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (“CLP”) that could result in increased compliance costs, additional restrictions, and/or bans of chemicals used or produced by us. In the U.S., changes to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s risk evaluation process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) could also result in additional restrictions and/or bans of chemicals used or produced by us.
Assessments under TSCA, REACH or similar programs or regulations in other state or national jurisdictions may result in heightened concerns about the chemicals we use or produce and may result in additional requirements or bans being placed on the production, handling, labeling or use of those chemicals. Such concerns and additional requirements could also increase the cost incurred by our customers to use our chemical products and otherwise limit the use of these products, which could lead to a decrease in demand for these products. Such a decrease in demand could have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
U.S. state and federal regulators, international regulators, investors, consumers and other stakeholders are focused on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) considerations. ESG disclosure obligations have required and may continue to require us to implement new practices and reporting processes, and have created and will continue to create additional compliance risk. If we are unable to meet our circularity, greenhouse gas reduction, diversity or other goals, or if we are perceived by regulators, customers, stockholders or employees to have not responded appropriately to the growing concern for these issues, our reputation, and therefore our ability to sell our products, could be negatively impacted. If, as a result of their assessment of our ESG performance, certain investors are unsatisfied with our actions or progress, they may reconsider their investment in our shares or debt securities. Providers of debt and equity financing may also consider our sustainability performance and external ESG ratings, which we have limited ability to influence, which could impact our cost of capital and adversely affect our business.