In the meeting, the SEC voted to finalise the proposed rule published in March 2022. According to a fact sheet posted by the SEC, the final rule will require a registrant to disclose, among other things:

• material climate-related risks;
• activities to mitigate or adapt to such risks;
• information about the registrant's board of directors' oversight of climate-related risks and management’s role in managing material climate-related risks; and
• information on any climate-related targets or goals that are material to the registrant's business, results of operations, or financial condition.

In a major change to the proposed rule, the SEC has decided to remove the requirement to disclose Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and only require disclosure of Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 GHG emissions on a phased-in basis by certain larger registrants when those emissions are material.

The final rule will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, and compliance will be phased in from 2025 to 2033.

Note: On 4 April 2024, the SEC voluntarily stayed (suspended) the effective date of the final rule pending judicial review of petitions challenging it, which have been consolidated for review by the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The stay does not reverse or change any of the final rule’s requirements nor does it affect the SEC’s existing 2010 interpretive release on climate-change disclosures. Since the outcome of the litigation is unknown and the review may take several months or longer, it is uncertain whether the SEC will retain or extend the final rule’s existing mandatory compliance dates. More information on the voluntary stay is available on the SEC website.

For more information, please see the following:

• Deloitte's iGAAP in Focus — Sustainability reporting: SEC adopts rule that requires climate-related disclosures
• Deloitte's Heads Up — Comprehensive Analysis of the SEC’s Landmark Climate Disclosure Rule
• Press release, text of the final rule and fact sheet, as well as statements by SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Commissioners Caroline A. Crenshaw, Jaime Lizárraga, Hester M. Peirce and Mark T. Uyeda on the SEC website