SEC Proposes Climate Rule Rescission
The SEC has moved from pausing its 2024 climate-related disclosure rules to proposing their withdrawal in full.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed to rescind its 2024 climate-related disclosure rules in full. The move opens a formal comment period for requirements that remain stayed, with public comments due by 3 August 2026.
The Proposal
On 29 May 2026, the SEC issued a proposed rule, Rescission of Climate-Related Disclosure Rules. It would withdraw amendments adopted in March 2024 under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The 2024 amendments would have required registrants to provide certain climate-related information in registration statements and annual reports, including disclosure related to climate-related risks, greenhouse gas emissions and certain financial statement effects of severe weather events.
The Commission now proposes to rescind the Final Rules in their entirety. Its stated basis is that the rules exceed the scope of the agency’s statutory authority. The SEC also says the rules are unnecessary, costly and inconsistent with a registrant-specific materiality approach.
Status and Scope
The proposed rescission follows a paused and contested rule. The SEC stayed the 2024 rules on 4 April 2024 while consolidated litigation proceeded in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. On 27 March 2025, the Commission voted to stop defending the rules in that litigation. On 12 September 2025, the court held the petitions in abeyance until the SEC either reconsidered the rules through notice-and-comment rulemaking or renewed its defence.
The proposed action covers the SEC climate-related disclosure rules adopted in 2024. The original rules applied to virtually all public companies, although not every requirement applied to every registrant. They included disclosure requirements under Regulation S-K and Regulation S-X, including greenhouse gas emissions disclosure and related assurance requirements for specified registrants.
The Federal Register notice confirms the procedural status: a proposed withdrawal of final rules.
Implications for Preparers
For registrants, the proposal narrows the SEC-specific climate disclosure question, but climate-related information may still need to be assessed under existing materiality-based filing obligations. The main distinction is between information required in SEC filings because it is material, information disclosed voluntarily and information reported under other regimes.
What Comes Next
After the comment period closes, the SEC will need to decide whether to adopt rescission in final form or revise its approach within the rulemaking process. Until then, the status remains procedural: the 2024 rules are stayed, and rescission is proposed but not final.
