SEC Climate Rules Face Renewed Democratic Push for Quick Release

The SEC should hurry up and require greenhouse gas emissions reporting and other climate disclosures from public companies, a senior House Democrat said Monday.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, made the call amid expectations the Securities and Exchange Commission will issue its climate disclosure regulations by the end of the year. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and other Democratic members of Congress made a similar plea in September.

The SEC should “quickly finalize its proposed rule to improve the quality of climate related disclosures in our capital markets in furtherance of the Commission’s mandate to protect investors, ensure fair and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation,” Waters said in a letter to agency Chair Gary Gensler.

The agency has aimed to release climate disclosure regulations as early as October, according to its latest rulemaking agenda. But with just one day left in the month, the rules likely will get pushed into November at the earliest.

Waters also urged the SEC to include in its plan a requirement that companies disclose Scope 3 emissions from their supply chains and other indirect sources after California mandated the reporting starting in 2027 as part of its emissions disclosure law signed on Oct. 7. Waters’ fellow California Democrats earlier this month pushed the SEC to make their state’s corporate climate reporting rules the national standard.

An SEC representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.