SEC moves to rescind climate change disclosure rules
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving to rescind its climate-related disclosure rule that agricultural groups said would have imposed costly reporting requirements on farmers and ranchers.
The SEC announced May 29 it is proposing to rescind in its entirety the climate disclosure rule adopted in 2024.
The regulation required publicly traded companies to disclose certain climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions information in annual filings and registration statements.
It was stayed amid ongoing litigation and never took effect.
“The rule is deeply flawed and could inflict significant harm on the capital markets and our economy,” SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement announcing the proposal. “Today’s proposal is designed to put an end to the commission’s involvement in the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure regime.”
According to the SEC, rescinding the rule would eliminate what the agency described as burdensome and costly requirements while returning the commission to its traditional materiality-based approach to disclosure requirements.
Although farmers and ranchers were not directly regulated by the SEC rule, agricultural groups warned the proposal would have extended well beyond Wall Street and into America’s farms and ranches.
Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) and the American Farm Bureau Federation opposed the rule, citing concerns that publicly traded companies would seek detailed emissions and production data from farmers to comply with reporting requirements.
The rule’s treatment of Scope 3 emissions—those generated throughout a company’s value chain—could have created new reporting obligations, compliance costs and legal liabilities for farmers and ranchers, according to Farm Bureau.
Farm Bureau also raised concerns about producer privacy and the potential for small, family-owned farms to be excluded from supply chains serving publicly traded companies.
“This is a common-sense decision,” Regan Beck, TFB director of Government Affairs, said. “Farmers and ranchers should not be subject to Wall Street-style reporting requirements simply because they sell into a supply chain that includes publicly traded companies. The rule created uncertainty, privacy concerns and the potential for costly compliance obligations that would have been especially difficult for family farms and ranches.”
The SEC’s proposal to rescind the rule is subject to a public comment period before the agency considers final action.
