In a vote on March 27, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to end its defense of the rules requiring disclosure of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions. The vote was preceded by a February statement from the acting SEC Chair that announced the commission’s intent to halt the climate disclosure rulemaking process.  

Despite the end of the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule, U.S. companies will continue to be subject to reporting under California’s climate disclosure laws. In addition, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York are currently considering legislation, modeled after California’s SB 253, to require companies that do business in their states with over $1 billion in revenue to annually report their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. New York is also considering climate risk reporting legislation, modeled after California’s SB 261, that requires companies with revenues over $500 Million that do business in New York to submit annual climate risk reports.