"SEC Climate Rules Risk Legal Battle with Environmental Groups"

"The SEC’s upcoming corporate climate disclosure rules face a new legal threat from environmentalists after Republicans and businesses have long signaled they would sue to stop the regulations.

The Sierra Club and Earthjustice are strongly considering suing the Securities and Exchange Commission, if the agency softens or abandons plans for big companies to disclose the Scope 3 emissions from their supply chains and other indirect sources under the new corporate reporting regime, three environmental advocates told Bloomberg Law.

The SEC has already received legal threats from business interests and about two dozen Republican state attorneys general for several months as it works to finalize the landmark rules as early as this spring. For the first time, companies would be required to report their greenhouse gas emissions and make other disclosures about how climate change affects their businesses in their 10-K annual filings to investors.

The Sierra Club has urged SEC officials to support the Scope 3 emissions reporting several times, according to agency records. The US Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute and officials from West Virginia, Florida and other GOP-led states have pushed the SEC to drop potential Scope 3 disclosures and broader elements of the SEC’s March 2022 climate proposal."

Andrew Ramonas reports for Bloomberg Environment April 18, 2023.

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 04/18/2023