Agenda – Climate Disclosure May Encourage Executive Pay Tied to ESG

The recent Securities and Exchange Commission proposal requiring companies to make climate disclosure in official filings may impact boards’ decision-making regarding tying executive pay to environmental, social and governance metrics, according to some compensation experts.

Many companies in the U.S. and Europe are already linking greenhouse gas emissions reductions to their executive compensation packages, and regulation may spur that development along, according to market watchers such as Brian Bueno, the ESG leader at executive compensation and corporate governance consultancy Farient Advisors.

“In terms of compensation, it continues to propel the ball forward, putting pressure on companies to actually make progress towards addressing their climate risks,” said Bueno.

“If companies are being forced to disclose climate data, then they’re going to get additional pressure from investors to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Then it creates a kind of link to put those in the executive incentive plans.”

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About Brian Bueno

ESG Practice Leader, Farient Advisors/GECN Group, New York

New York
(646) 626-6929
brian.bueno@farient.com

Brian Bueno is the ESG Leader at Farient Advisors. In this role, Brian guides the firm’s strategy, research, and analysis on environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) matters. Brian focuses on the ESG landscape and its intersection with executive compensation and incentives in order to assist clients in understanding stakeholder considerations and developing and implementing appropriate programs that help create stakeholder value.

Prior to re-joining Farient in 2022, Brian was vice president and product manager at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a leading proxy advisory firm, where he led the development of solutions that assist institutional investors evaluate executive compensation and related areas at their portfolio companies across global markets. Additionally, at ISS’s Corporate Solutions arm, Brian led the creation and management of product platforms that allow companies to benchmark themselves across executive compensation and ESG topics.

Prior to joining ISS in 2015, Brian worked at Farient where he managed the development and delivery of Farient’s Performance Alignment Reports and associated research, including analyses on executive pay definitions and financial performance metrics and their link to shareholder value. At Farient, Brian also worked with clients across various industries, including energy, industrials, banking, and insurance. And before Farient, Brian held a market research role involved in identifying opportunities and risks in particular industries and communicating findings to clients and media.

Brian holds a BS from the University of Southern California’s (USC) Marshall School of Business with a triple concentration in finance, marketing, and entrepreneurship.