Audit, Compliance and Risk Blog

SEC ends legal defense of climate-related disclosure requirements for public companies

Posted by Jon Elliott on Thu, May 15, 2025

On March 27, 2025 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to stop defending rules adopted in 2024 (during the Biden administration) that would have required selected “public companies” (i.e, listed on national securities exchanges) to provide “climate-related disclosures for investors” in their registration statements and annual reports. SEC had stayed these rules’ effectiveness after being sued by two energy companies, which were later joined by other plaintiffs as well as state and nonprofit supporters of the rules. The latest SEC decision ends the agency’s defense in that litigation.

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Tags: SEC, Environmental Policy, Climate, ESG, Environmental Compliance, Risk Management, Sustainability Reporting, Climate Disclosure, Climate Risk

Coming to North America? EU proposes to narrow Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requirements

Posted by Jon Elliott on Thu, Apr 10, 2025

On February 26, the European Union’s (EU’s) European Commission issued its “Omnibus I” proposal to “recalibrate” the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), by reducing reporting requirements and excluding smaller entities.  The CSRD was adopted in November 2022 and took effect in January 2023 (I wrote about it HERE), providing reporting requirements that are being phased in during 2024-2028. CSRD superseded and narrowed the EU’s previous Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD; which I discussed HERE). The remainder of this note discusses the proposed changes. 

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Tags: CSRD, ESG, Hazardous Material, RegulatoryUpdates, Risk Management, Sustainability Reporting, EU Regulations, Sustainability Strategy, Corporate Sustainability, EU Compliance