SEC moves to repeal rule that requires companies to report greenhouse gas emissions and climate risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the latest action to roll back Biden-era climate change regulations, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday proposed repealing a rule on climate change. requires some public companies to report the risks they face due to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
The Republican-led commission’s climate disclosure rule has been pending since last year. pause his legal defense Following legal challenges from business groups and Republican state attorneys general.
The SEC said in a statement that it moved to rescind the disclosure rules entirely because they “exceed the scope of the agency’s statutory authority.” The rules, finalized in 2024, “impose significant costs on public companies and their shareholders that cannot be justified by the information benefits they may provide to some investors,” the commission said.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a speech that eliminating the rule would “avoid the practical effect of dictating corporate behavior” and ensure that agency rules “are applied only when the expected benefits justify the possible costs and burdens.” expression.
Environmental groups said the action would deprive investors of the information they need to accurately assess financial risks and other dangers related to climate change.
“The SEC’s mission is to protect investors and the public by providing them with access to material information,” said Kathy Fallon, onshore systems manager for the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force. “Although imperfect, the rule was an important step towards providing investors with consistent information about financially material climate risks, including the use of carbon offsets.”
He called on the commission to maintain the rule and enforce disclosure requirements that “provide both investors and the public with the transparency they need.”
Repealing the climate disclosure rule is among dozens of environmental rollbacks implemented during President Donald Trump’s second term. The Environmental Protection Agency has eliminated major climate change programs. encouraged deregulation efforts He said Trump’s move was the largest such move in American history, canceling billions of dollars in Biden-era environmental justice donations.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin focused on weakening or eliminating Regulations perceived as climate friendlyIncluding rescinding a scientific finding that has long been a central basis for U.S. action to regulate and combat greenhouse gas emissions. climate change.
Zeldin said his actions would “stab a dagger through the heart of the religion of climate change.”
The SEC, an independent agency whose members are appointed by the president, approved the climate rule on a party-line vote in March 2024. Three Democratic commissioners supported it and two Republicans opposed it.
The commission currently has three Republican members, including Atkins, and no Democrats.
The 2024 rule was one of the most anticipated in recent years by the nation’s top financial regulator, which received more than 24,000 comments from companies, regulators, regulators and trade groups over a two-year period. The vote brought the United States closer to the European Union and states like California that impose similar corporate disclosure rules.
The public comment period is expected to remain open for 60 days in the next few days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
