California SB 261

California Senate Bill 261, Greenhouse gases, climate-related financial risk

{Cal. SB 261, 2023-2024 Reg. Sess.}

Overview Summary

SB 261 would require large US companies (potentially including large foreign companies with a significant US subsidiary) to annually prepare and publicly disclose a climate-related financial risk report in accordance with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Recommendations.

SB 261 does not require all elements from the TCFD Recommendations, but rather is specifically limited to disclosure of climate-related risk and measures taken to reduce those risks. Notably absent is the requirement to disclose GHG emissions, which is instead required by SB 261’s proposed companion bill, SB 253.

Compliance Timeline

SB 261 would require covered businesses to submit their first reports by December 31, 2024, and then annually thereafter. There are no phase-in periods based on business size.

Applicability

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook tends to group web developers and digital designers into one category. However, they define them separately, stating that web developers create and maintain websites and are responsible for the technical aspects including performance and capacity. Web or digital designers, on the other hand, are responsible for the look and functionality of websites and interfaces. They develop, create, and test the layout, functions, and navigation for usability. Web developers can focus on the back-end, front-end, or full-stack development, and typically utilize a range of programming languages, libraries, and frameworks to do so. Web designers may work more closely with front-end engineers to establish the user-end functionality and appearance of a site.

Current Status and Road Ahead

In our ever-increasingly digital environment, there is a constant need for websites—and therefore for web designers and developers. With 17.4 billion websites in existence as of January 2020, the demand for web developers is only expected to rise.Web designers with significant coding experience are typically in higher demand, and can usually expect a higher salary. Like all jobs, there are likely to be a range of opportunities, some of which are better paid than others. But certain skill sets are basic to web design, most of which are key to how to become a web designer in 2022.

More Information

Official Legislative Proposal