SEC moves to rescind its 2024 climate-disclosure rule

In May 2026, the US Securities and Exchange Commission began the formal process of rescinding the climate-disclosure rule it had adopted in 2024. The rule would have required public companies to report climate-related risks and certain emissions in their filings. Its retreat is part of a broader US pullback from sustainable-finance regulation.

Why it matters for communicators: the rule was loosely modelled on TCFD, the disclosure framework regulators worldwide have converged on, and it would have pushed companies toward reporting their GHG Scopes in audited filings. Without it, US disclosure becomes a patchwork — California’s state laws, the EU rules that catch global firms, and voluntary commitments — rather than one federal baseline.

The communications risk cuts both ways. Less mandatory disclosure means fewer standardised numbers to point to, which makes voluntary climate claims harder to substantiate and easier to challenge as Greenwashing. Companies that built reporting toward the SEC rule should not quietly switch it off: investors, EU regulators, and customers increasingly expect the data regardless of what Washington requires.