We’ve written a lot about the ongoing litigation against the SEC’s Climate-Related Disclosure Rules, from the procedural history so far to the odds of success. In addition to the various lawsuits seeking to strike down the rule, there were also petitions from the Sierra Club and the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC) arguing that the SEC neglected its duties when it watered down the Final Rule from the proposed version. Now, both those plaintiffs are seeking to remove themselves from the litigation. Cooley reports on this development in a recent memo stating:
“In its motion, the NRDC explained that it ‘and many of its members rely on information on public companies’ management of climate-related financial risks to properly invest their money. NRDC views the Final Rule as consistent with the SEC’s authority and mission and as a step forward from the status quo that will improve the consistency and comparability of disclosures of climate-related financial risk. This petition for review concerned the SEC’s decisions with respect to certain specific disclosures in the Final Rule. However, NRDC has decided to focus its resources on advocating for improvements to climate-related financial disclosures outside of this litigation.”
The Sierra Club’s motion was substantially similar to the NRDC’s. Both organizations now argue that the SEC has full authority to adopt the Climate-Related Disclosure Rules and are shifting their strategy to strengthening those rules by means other than litigation. This removes one front against the SEC in the litigation and leaves only the challengers to the rule and its defenders, including AGs from 18 states and the District of Columbia.
Our members can learn more about the ongoing SEC Climate Disclosure Rules litigation here.
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