The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to withdraw from legal defence of its 2024 regulation requiring companies to disclose climate-related emissions, risks and spending.
In March 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the Climate-Related Disclosure Rule requiring large publicly traded companies to disclose climate action, greenhouse gas emissions, and the financial impacts of severe weather events. The rule was immediately met with legal challenges and implementation was delayed while the court heard the cases.
The widely-expected decision is a part of the Trump administration’s roll back of climate related legislations and commitments. Since taking office Donald Trump rolled back virtually all of the Biden administration’s efforts to address climate change.
“The goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defence of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules,” Mark Uyeda, the acting SEC chair, said in a statement.
The rule, if implemented, would have given investors information about the buildup of climate risk and associated costs in the financial system. Lobby groups and Republican states immediately sued the SEC, alleging that the regulations overstepped the SEC’s legal authority and would burden businesses.
