Lawsuit filed against SEC for scaled-back climate rules

As expected, a legal battle has begun in the U.S. over newly adopted climate-disclosure rules for publicly traded companies.

Calif.-based Sierra Club, a nonprofit environmental group, and the sponsor of its charitable programs, Sierra Club Foundation, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the regulator’s scaled-back final rules for climate-related disclosures, which were adopted earlier this month.

The lawsuit was filed by Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation manage their own investments and employee 401(k)s, Earthjustice said in a release on Wednesday.

Hana Vizcarra, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, said in the release that the SEC “succumbed to industry pressure and finalized a rule that opens investors to greenwashing and rapidly widening disclosure gaps.”

The final rule reduces the reporting demands on firms. For example, firms won’t be required to disclose Scope 3 emissions — those generated indirectly by a company’s operations, including in its supply chains.

Companies will still be required to report on their own direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions, along with metrics such as their material climate-related risks; the impacts of those risks on companies’ strategies, business models and outlooks; and efforts to address those risks, such as transition plans.

When the rules were adopted, Sierra and Earthjustice suggested they would take legal action.

Business lobby groups also were concerned about the rules’ impact, and signalled that they might challenge the new requirements.

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