Energy & Sustainability Litigation Updates — December 2024

Regulatory Updates

The SEC continues its focus on greenwashing, despite the recent disbandment of the SEC's Climate & ESG Task Force.Notably, in the past month, the SEC Department of Examinations has issued a risk alert focused on greenwashing, and the SEC has imposed a fine of $17.5 million on an investment advisor for “misleading statements” concerning the role of ESG factors in its investment decision making processes.

The climate disclosures issued by California—S.B. 253 and S.B. 261, which mandate that companies doing business in California and exceeding certain revenue thresholds disclose climate-related financial risk information and Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions—survived an early legal challenge.Specifically, a federal district court held that these laws did not constitute a per se violation of the First Amendment.Nonetheless, the lawsuit by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenging these laws—on a number of different