SEC Decides to End Legal Defense of its Climate Disclosure Rules

On March 27, 2025, the SEC voted to stop defending its climate disclosure rules against legal challenges brought by states and private parties. The Commission had previously stayed the effective date of the rule pending the court’s decision in Iowa v. Securities & Exchange Commission. SEC’s Acting Chairman explained that “[t]he goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules.”