Experts: What to expect ahead of SEC climate-related disclosure rule vote

Nearly two years after it was first proposed, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is finally poised to approve its climate-related disclosure rule—albeit a watered-down version, by all indications.

The agency’s highly anticipated—or dreaded, depending on your point of view—rule, as proposed back in March 2022, sought to require public companies to include disclosures about how climate-related risks affect their strategy, business model, and outlook; how the company’s board and management oversee climate-related issues; and any plans for transition to a lower carbon footprint.

But the proposal received more than 16,000 comments, with many expressing concern regarding requirements that public companies gather and report their Scope 3 emissions and whether climate-related disclosures would be grounded in materiality.