Energy & Sustainability Litigation Updates — May 2023

Regulatory Developments — Federal

The SEC's proposed climate disclosures — The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors — may be delayed further and not published until fall 2023. This draft rule, which is immensely far-reaching and complex, and seeks information in an area that had not previously been a focus for the SEC, has been subject to numerous delays. The original draft rule was intended to be issued in October 2021 but ultimately was not published until March 2022. And the draft was originally intended to be finalized before the end of 2022, although subsequent reports suggested that it would be issued in the second quarter of 2023. Now an even later date — fall 2023 — is being suggested by a former SEC Commissioner. These delays by the SEC mean that the proposed climate disclosure rule will likely not come into effect until 2024 (when it will almost certainly be subjected to legal challenges from interested