New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has announced in a press release that it has secured an agreement with Peabody Energy Corporation to end its misleading statement and to disclose to investors and shareholders the risks that arise from climate change.
The New York attorney general's office found that Peabody violated New York laws that prohibit false and misleading conducts in the company's statements to the public and investors.
Peabody has misled investors and the public regarding the risks associated with climate change and potential regulatory responses, according to the press release.
Peabody is the world's largest publicly traded coal company.
Attorney General Schneiderman said in the press release that Peabody has a responsibility with its investors and the public to be honest about the "risks posed by climate change, now and in the future."
"I believe that full and fair disclosures by Peabody and other fossil fuel companies will lead investors to think long and hard about the damage these companies are doing to our planet," he said.
The New York Times adds that shares of Peabody have lost more than 90 percent of its value over the last year.
Crippling debts and more stringent regulations on coal burning by electric utilities have overwhelmed the entire industry.
The New York Times adds that oil and coal companies have been under pressure from investors and pension funds to disclose more of the risks that their businesses face in their annual reports and Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Investors and pension funds also want to include in the disclosure the risks that they will not be able to extract all their reserves in the future.
Peabody said in their press release that they agreed to enhance their disclosures around all of the scenarios that International Energy Agency's (IEA) World Energy Outlook publishes.
The company has long used IEA's World Energy Outlook with regards to global energy scenarios.
Peabody adds in the press release that they also agreed to accompany their "future statements concerning the difficulty of making particular projections or predictions" with a statement that "Peabody has made projections of the impact of scenarios involving certain potential laws and regulations relating to climate change or coal."
