The SEC voted 3-2 on Wednesday to require large companies to tell investors about greenhouse gas emissions directly caused by their business if that information would be likely to influence someone’s decision on whether to invest.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw and Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga — all Democrats — voted in favor of the rule, while Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda voted against it.
The rule will also require all publicly traded companies to disclose ways in which climate change poses significant risks to their business.
The rule represents a massive — and contentious — step in terms of what companies are required to tell potential investors about their vulnerability and contribution to climate change.
But it is significantly scaled back from what the agency proposed in 2022. That rule would have required all public companies to disclose their direct emissions and also made some companies report emissions from their supply chains and the use of their products.
Instead, as part of an effort to lighten the burden for companies, the SEC will only make large and midsize companies report their emissions that come from generating the electricity a company uses. They’ll have to report emissions for their fiscal years that start in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
Read more at TheHill.com.
