Ginny Roscamp, Senior Press Secretary, Federal Communications, Sierra Club, ginny.roscamp@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC — The Securities and Exchange Commission, chaired by former Wall Street lobbyist and crypto-peddler Paul Atkins, announced yesterday, July 23, that it will not review or reconsider its landmark corporate climate disclosure rules, effectively failing to do its job and abandoning defense of the regulations as they face challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The commission’s lone remaining Democrat on the commission issued a scathing rebuke to the wrong-headed decision.
The climate-related financial disclosure rule, adopted by the Commission on March 6, 2024, would have created the first comprehensive federal transparency requirement for public companies on both physical and transitional climate financial risks as well as greenhouse gas pollution reporting. The original transparency requirements were developed after considering more than 24,000 comment letters, including more than 4,500 unique letters, 97% of which overwhelmingly supported common-sense disclosure requirements for real and growing climate-related final risks. The final rules reflected efforts to respond to investors’ demand for consistent, comparable climate-related financial information while balancing concerns about compliance costs. Climate financial risks are growing, and already severely impacting the U.S. insurance and housing markets.
“The SEC’s decision to stop defending its climate disclosure rule is a deeply irresponsible move that marks a dangerous retreat from investor protection,” said Jessye Waxman, Campaign Advisor for the Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance campaign. “Investors have been clear in demanding more transparency about the growing financial risks of the climate crisis. Instead, the Trump-backed majority at the SEC is choosing to protect corporate polluters and leave the public in the dark. This retreat doesn’t change the reality of climate risk—it just makes it harder for investors to manage and easier for companies to hide the costs of inaction.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.