Final update at 12:40 p.m. March 7
Two years after proposing rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other climate risk-related details, the SEC on Wednesday adopted a scaled-back version of its original proposal that does not require controversial Scope 3 emissions reporting.
Passed by a 3-2 vote, the new rule will require covered entities to disclose a variety of details regarding climate-related risks, strategies and governance and, for some companies, information about material Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Notably, the final rule eliminated a requirement to disclose Scope 3 emissions and exempts many types of companies from having to report emissions at all.
Since it was proposed in March 2022, the SEC’s proposal has received thousands of public comments, about 24,000, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said during the agency’s Wednesday meeting, and was the source of a great deal of political backlash. A vote was initially expected in October before being delayed to April, with the agency issuing a public alert just one week before its March 6 meeting.
According to the rules passed Wednesday, subject to requirements to report “material” Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, assuming they are not otherwise exempted, are large accelerated filers and…
