The SEC's Final Climate Disclosure Rules

On March 6, 2024, almost two years after its originally proposed rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules relating to the enhancement and standardization of climate-related disclosures. While the final rules still represent a sweeping overhaul of current disclosure requirements and will substantially expand the reporting obligations for public companies, the SEC scaled back some of the most onerous proposals, eliminating Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosures entirely, scaling back attestation requirements, eliminating the requirement to disclose director expertise, narrowing the financial statement disclosures, and further scaling disclosures benefitting smaller reporting companies, as well as adding materiality qualifiers throughout.