The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals, informing it of its plans to “reconsider” the corporate climate disclosure rules introduced by the Commission during the Biden administration.
The letter to the court follows reports last week, confirmed by the SEC, that it has started the process to rescind the climate reporting rules.
In its letter to the court, the SEC said that it plans to reconsider the rules through a “notice-and-comment rulemaking” process, which the Commission had initially attempted to avoid by requesting that the court issue a ruling on the legality of the rules, after it had also withdrawn its defense of the rules against legal challenges. The court denied the SEC’s request in September 2025, ordering the Commission to either reconsider the regulation through ordinary rulemaking procedures, or to renew its defense of the rules in court.
The notice-and-comment rulemaking procedure could potentially be a lengthy process, involving publishing the proposal along with explanations and legal authority justifying the proposed rule, opening a public comment period, with agency staff required to consider and respond to significant issues raised in the comments, and with the final rule itself being potentially open to legal challenges.
The climate reporting rules were adopted by the agency in 2024, under prior Biden-appointed SEC Chair Gary Gensler, establishing for the first time requirements for public companies in the U.S. to provide disclosure on climate risks facing their businesses, plans to address those risks, the financial impact of severe weather events, and, in some cases, greenhouse gas emissions originating from their operations.
In its letter to the court, the SEC outlined its rationale for reconsidering the climate reporting rules, highlighting “concerns that the Rules exceed the Commission’s statutory authority and the costs of the Rules outweigh their benefits.” The SEC confirmed that it does not intend to defend the rules, and that it has submitted a new proposed rule titled “Rescission of Climate-Related Disclosure Rules” to the U.S. federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
