Wall Street’s top regulator is defending its embattled climate disclosure requirements for companies, arguing that the rule is about protecting investors — not advancing environmental policy.
In a brief filed Tuesday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Securities and Exchange Commission said the now-paused rule will give clarity to shareholders and help them protect their financial interests.
“Despite the growing importance of such information to investors and an increase in climate-related information being provided by some companies … there is a need to improve the consistency, comparability, and reliability of climate-related disclosures,” SEC attorneys said.
SEC said that while preparing the rule, commission staff found that both institutional and retail investors have “found much of the voluntary climate-related reporting to be lacking in quality and completeness and difficult to compare.”
