Increasing focus on ESG matters has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, the adoption of legal and regulatory requirements designed to mitigate, among other things, the effects of climate change on the environment, which require additional disclosure and reporting. As a result of our global operations, the regulatory requirements are also sometimes conflicting. If new laws or regulations are more stringent than current legal or regulatory requirements, or conflict, we may experience increased compliance burdens and costs to meet such obligations. In addition, our selection of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or may not meet the expectations of investors or other stakeholders. Our ability to achieve our ESG commitments is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control, such as the availability and cost of low- or non-greenhouse gas-intensive energy sources, infrastructure and technologies, evolving regulatory requirements affecting ESG standards or disclosures, and the ESG posture of others in our value chain such as suppliers and other counterparties. We may also face challenges in obtaining sufficient information on such parties when seeking to evaluate how such relationships impact our own position on ESG matters. Furthermore, if we determine it is in the Company’s interest to do so, we may decide that a commitment or goal, or membership or support for certain ESG-related organizations or initiatives, should change or be withdrawn.
Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations are evolving along with standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future. Methodologies for reporting ESG data may be updated and previously-reported ESG data may be adjusted to reflect: improvement in availability or quality of data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations and other changes in circumstances. As we work to align our reporting with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and other reporting frameworks, and comply with the adoption of and changes to applicable legal and regulatory requirements, including reporting obligations pursuant to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive as well as focus on our own ESG assessments and priorities, we may disclose additional metrics against which we may measure ourselves or be measured and tracked by others over time. We cannot predict future legal, regulatory and other developments in these areas, and any changes to the regulatory framework or our disclosure obligations could also negatively impact our business and results.