SEC proposes rescinding climate disclosure rules as review of reporting mandates continues

Traders Union
All News
Regulators News
SEC proposes rescinding climate disclosure rules

All news

Editors' Picks

Crypto News

Financial News

Market Voices

Billionaires

Companies

Broker News

Regulators News

Ashutosh Sureka

29.05.2026

SEC proposes rescinding climate disclosure rules as review of reporting mandates continues — SEC rethinks climate rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to unwind its 2024 climate-related disclosure framework after more than two years of legal and policy disputes over the rules. The proposal reopens debate over the scope of the regulator's authority and signals a broader review of how public company disclosure requirements affect listing costs and compliance burdens.

Highlights

On May 29, the SEC proposed to rescind the climate-related disclosure rules adopted on March 6, 2024, following national controversy and legal challenges.
The SEC had already stayed enforcement of the 2024 rules pending judicial review and withdrew its defense in March 2025, leaving the litigation in abeyance.
Chairman Paul S. Atkins stated the rescission aims to align SEC disclosures with statutory limits and materiality, potentially signaling broader changes to U.S. corporate reporting mandates.

Rescission proposal and regulatory context

As reported by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency on May 29 proposes to rescind in full the climate-related disclosure rules it adopted on March 6, 2024, under the title The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.

The SEC says the 2024 rules sparked national controversy from the proposal stage, with some commenters backing the measure while many others argued the requirements fell outside the Commission's authority and were flawed on policy grounds. After the rules were adopted, multiple legal challenges were filed and consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, where challengers raised statutory authority and administrative procedure objections and sought to have the rules vacated.

The Commission had already stayed the 2024 climate rules pending judicial review. In March 2025, it withdrew its defense of the rules in the litigation, and the court later held the case in abeyance.

Implications for disclosure policy and public companies

SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins says he has been concerned for some time about both the agency's authority to adopt the 2024 climate rules and the policy rationale behind them. He says the rescission proposal is part of a wider agenda to ensure SEC disclosure obligations stay within statutory limits, remain anchored in materiality, and avoid effectively directing corporate behavior.

Atkins also says the regulator must reassess the costs, burdens and benefits of disclosure mandates to make becoming and remaining a public company more attractive. The proposing release sets out the Commission's preliminary views on those issues and asks for public comment, indicating the review could shape a broader reset in U.S. corporate reporting requirements beyond climate disclosures.

In our earlier coverage of the U.S. Department of Labor’s finalized rule, we explained how the agency updated union financial reporting requirements under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. The changes modernize Form LM-2 for larger labor organizations, introduce an enhanced LM-2 Long Form for the biggest unions, and raise filing thresholds for smaller unions to reduce compliance burdens. The rule is intended to strengthen transparency and member oversight while reflecting the growing complexity of unions’ finances.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.