SEC Scales Back New Pollution-Disclosure Rules for Companies
- Agency finalizes plan that’s softer than 2022 proposal
- Rules face legal threats from industry and environmentalists
The Securities and Exchange Commission will force companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions for the first time, but watered down a key requirement after heavy lobbying from industry groups.
The SEC voted Wednesday to impose climate-disclosure requirements that will be significantly softer than those it proposed in March 2022 after the agency received thousands of comment letters and numerous litigation threats over the plan. In the biggest change, the regulator won’t force companies to quantify pollution from their supply chains or customers, known as Scope 3 emissions. Additionally, firms will face a higher bar for when they need to reveal more direct carbon footprints in their regulatory filings, which are known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.