From Readiness to Assurance: How to Achieve ESG Compliance Efficiently

Navigating California's SB 253 & SB 261

Join Greenplaces and Johnson Lambert for a practical roadmap to navigating California’s climate disclosure requirements under SB 253 and SB 261 — and preparing for assurance with confidence. This session is designed for sustainability leaders who need to move beyond high-level readiness and begin building a defensible, auditable ESG reporting program. We’ll walk through the SB 253 reporting timeline for Scope 1 and 2 emissions, including the proposed August 10, 2026 filing deadline, governance and data requirements, and the documentation needed to support mandatory limited assurance. We’ll also unpack the latest regulatory developments from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), including the current pause on SB 261 enforcement, why the Jan. 1 statutory deadline still matters, and how companies should think about climate-risk disclosures in the context of broader stakeholder expectations and emerging assurance norms.

What you’ll take away:

• Clear understanding of mandates and timelines: Get clarity on the scope, reporting, and assurance requirements under SB 253 — including limited assurance for Scope 1 and 2 emissions — and the statutory SB 261 climate-risk disclosure deadline, despite CARB’s current enforcement pause.
• A practical roadmap to assurance readiness: Learn how to prepare for the 2026 reporting cycle by coordinating data across sustainability, finance, facilities, and IT to support audit-ready emissions reporting under SB 253.
• Governance and narrative alignment: Understand how climate-risk governance and controls support SB 261’s qualitative disclosures while aligning with existing risk and reporting frameworks.
• Navigating complex organizational structures: Explore common challenges for insurers and multi-entity organizations, including revenue threshold analysis, data ownership, and managing emissions data held by third-party vendors.
• Knowing when to engage assurance and technology partners: Learn when and how to involve independent assurance providers and technology platforms to pressure-test controls, documentation, and processes before reporting begins.

This ondemand session is ideal for:

CFOs, CROs, General Counsel, Compliance Officers, Internal Audit, and ESG/Sustainability Leads.