SEC Refuses To Answer Whether It Will Enforce Climate Disclosure Law If Upheld By Courts

On July 23, 2025, there was a notable development in the legal proceeding (currently pending in the Eighth Circuit) challenging the validity of the SEC's mandatory climate disclosure law. By way of background, in April 2025--in response to the Trump Administration's SEC abandoning the defense of the climate disclosure rule--the Eighth Circuit directed the SEC to state "whether the Commission intends to review or reconsider the rules at issue in this case" and if the SEC elects to take no action, "whether the Commission will adhere to the rules if the petitions for review are denied." In effect, the Eighth Circuit was signaling that if the SEC no longer supported the climate disclosure regulation, it should engage in the normal administrative process to overturn it.