News
By JOEL KIRKLAND, Politico Power Switch
03-06-24
Wall Street’s top regulator approved a groundbreaking but scaled-back rule today that will require companies to divulge more about the climate risks they face and, in some cases, their greenhouse gas emissions.
The 3-2 party-line vote of the Securities and Exchange Commission came after a bitter two-year fight over how far the agency can go to force public companies to provide information about their business costs and risks tied to rising temperatures and extreme weather.
A more ambitious earlier version of the nearly 900-page final rule buckled as business groups and Republicans threatened legal action. Opponents argued that a rule that requires climate reporting is outside of the SEC’s statutory authority and unworkable for much of corporate America, Declan Harty writes.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is likely to sue, and a legislative push to overturn it is expected.
This rule — for backers, a landmark rule that finally pulls corporate accountability into the suite of Biden administration efforts to combat climate change — is already proving extremely messy in terms of where it might end up. One observer noted that some of President Joe Biden’s climate allies might be among the litigants challenging the SEC’s rule.
Read the full article here: Climate oversight comes for corporate America – POLITICO
