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On May 29, 2026 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  in a press release announced that it has proposed the rescission of climate disclosure rules that require most public companies – including energy companies -to provide certain climate-related information in their registration statements and annual reports.

The rules, entitled The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors (the “Climate Disclosure Rules”), require that companies provide significant new climate-related disclosures in their annual reports and registration statements. Disclosure obligations were originally set to begin in 2026 and 2027; however, the SEC never implemented the Climate Disclosure Rules due to legal challenges and other delays.

From the SEC press release:

“SEC disclosure obligations should comply with the Commission’s statutory authority, be guided by materiality as the North Star, avoid the practical effect of dictating corporate behavior, and be imposed only when the expected benefits justify the likely costs and burdens,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins in a statement.”

“The Commission is now proposing to rescind the climate disclosure rules in their entirety because they exceed the scope of the agency’s statutory authority. Even if it had authority to adopt such final rules, the Commission believes there are independent, compelling policy reasons to rescind them entirely:

• They are unnecessary and inconsistent with a registrant-specific, materiality-based approach to disclosure that best serves the interests of registrants and investors.
• They stray well beyond the policy concerns of the federal securities laws.
• They impose substantial costs on public companies and their shareholders that are not justified by the informational benefits they may provide to some investors.
• They are at odds with the Commission’s policy objectives of facilitating capital formation and promoting public company status.”

The public comment period will remain open for 60 days following the publication of the proposing release in the Federal Register.

A host of commentors, including states, environmental groups and investor coalitions will likely oppose the SEC’s complete rollback the SEC’s climate disclosure rules.

By removing Regulation S-K and Article 14 of Regulation the SEC signals a return to its traditional, principles-based approach to materiality.  If the proposed rules are ultimately adopted companies will likely only need to disclose climate-related issues if they pose a direct, material threat to the company’s bottom line, rather than adhering to hyper-prescriptive environmental regulations

As background the Commission in March 2024 approved amendments to its rules under the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to mandate disclosure from public companies about climate-related matters such as greenhouse gas emissions, management of climate-related risks, and the financial statement effects of severe weather events.

The Commission in March 2024 approved amendments to its rules under the Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to mandate highly specific and granular disclosure from virtually all public companies about climate-related matters such as greenhouse gas emissions, management of climate-related risks, and the financial statement effects of severe weather events.

States, affected companies, and environmental groups challenged the Climate Disclosure Rules in federal courts almost immediately after they were finalized. A coalition of ten states filed a lawsuit alleging that the Climate Disclosure Rules exceeded the SEC’s statutory authority and placed an undue burden on affected companies. Other states, industry groups, and independent companies followed with their own lawsuits on similar grounds. Environmental groups challenged the rules on the basis that they were not stringent enough and would allow companies to “selectively report” climate risks. The SEC quickly stayed implementation of the Climate Disclosure Rules pending the completion of litigation and, in March 2025, the Commission voted to end its defense of the rules in court.

The SEC is now proposing to rescind the Climate Disclosure Rules altogether on the basis that they are “overly burdensome and costly” and exceed the scope of the Commission’s statutory authority. There is a sixty-day public comment period on the SEC’s proposal that ends on August 3, 2026. After that, new litigation challenging the SEC’s rescission could commence.

On April 4, 2024, the Commission stayed the climate disclosure rules pending completion of consolidated litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On March 27, 2025, the Commission voted to end its defense of the final rules. On Sept. 12, 2025, the Eighth Circuit issued an order holding the consolidated petitions for review in abeyance until such time as the Commission reconsiders the challenged rules by notice-and-comment rulemaking or renews its defense of the climate disclosure rules.