Shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, the Securities and Exchange Commission started taking steps to distance itself from rules promulgated under the prior administration, particularly those on environmental, social and governance issues.
The SEC, under former chair Gary Gensler and the Biden administration, had finalized a rule to require companies to issue climate-risk disclosures, and proposed rules that increased disclosures from ESG funds and altered the shareholder submission process. The proposed rules were withdrawn, and the agency has stopped defending the climate rule as opponents continue to challenge it in court.
Most recently, the SEC told the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals — where petitions against the climate rule are consolidated — to continue the case without the agency’s participation, while declining to say whether the agency plans to uphold the rule if it survives litigation.
Catch up on ESG Dive’s coverage of the changes under Trump’s SEC Chair Paul Atkins.
