Environmental Groups Urge SEC to Keep Climate Risk Disclosure Rule

Washington, D.C. — Today, a coalition of environmental organizations filed comments urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to abandon its proposed repeal of its rule requiring public companies to disclose climate-related risks to their businesses and plans to manage or mitigate them. 

“Americans deserve clear climate risk information so they can keep their hard-earned money safe,” said Stephanie Jones, Senior Attorney for Environmental Defense Fund. “When companies aren’t prepared for the stronger, more costly weather disasters climate change causes, that puts people’s financial security at risk. At the same time, many companies are innovating clean solutions that benefit people’s lives and their investments. By attempting to rescind its climate risk disclosure rules, the SEC is abandoning its duty to protect investors and denying Americans—including everyone with a 401k or a pension—vital transparency.”

“Climate impacts disrupt every facet of the U.S. economy. The rule the SEC is now attempting to rescind was a step towards protecting investors, encouraging more efficient markets, and contributing to the financial stability of our economy,” said Hana Vizcarra, Deputy Managing Attorney at Earthjustice. “SEC should exercise its legal authority to further protect investors from greenwashing and rapidly widening disclosure gaps, instead of repealing what climate-based disclosures we have.” 

“Climate-related risks are clear and measurable, just like other financial risks that the SEC requires companies to tell their investors about. The SEC’s rescission of the climate disclosure rules would leave investors in the dark on those risks,” said Thomas Zimpleman, a lawyer at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council).

“The SEC is choosing politics over investors,” said Jessye Waxman, Campaign Advisor for Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance campaign. “Investors have spent more than a decade asking for consistent, comparable climate-related information because climate risk is financially material. By proposing to rescind this rule, the SEC is abandoning its responsibility to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets. Markets cannot allocate capital efficiently when investors lack material information. Climate disclosure isn’t just about transparency; it’s about ensuring capital flows to companies managing long-term financial risks rather than obscuring them. Rescinding this rule won’t make climate risk disappear; it will just make markets less efficient, increase the mispricing of risk, and undermine investment in the resilient economy we need.”

“Climate-related risks can have significant financial implications, and the SEC was acting well within its authority when it required public companies to provide greater transparency about those risks to investors and the public,” said Mary Sasso, attorney at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “The SEC must withdraw its proposal to rescind this rule, which supports informed investment decisions, strengthens market transparency, and provides greater insight into the accuracy and credibility of companies’ climate commitments and plans.” 

Background

The SEC finalized its climate risk disclosure rule in 2024, aligning with the growing consensus among investors and financial regulators that climate change poses significant risks to financial systems, and that securities regulators have an important role to play in ensuring investors have information about those risks. The rule was designed to provide investors with standardized, comparable information about financially material climate-related risks, including physical risks from climate impacts and transition risks facing companies as the economy shifts. 

The rule has not taken effect yet due to legal challenges from certain corporate interests and their allies. In August 2024, Earthjustice, representing Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, the Sierra Club, and Sierra Club Foundation, along with NRDC and Environmental Defense Fund, filed an amicus to support the SEC’s rule.

In February 2025, then-Acting Chair Mark Uyeda requested that the Eighth Circuit not schedule arguments while the Commission considered its position; in March 2025, the Commission voted to end its defense of the rule; and in July 2025, the SEC stated it would not review or reconsider the rule at that time, urging the court to let the litigation challenge continue. The court declined, keeping the case in abeyance, and the SEC released the rescission proposal in May 2026.