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United States: A closer look – Key components of the SEC’s long-awaited final rules on climate disclosure and where to go from here

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In brief

On March 6, 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission“) adopted final rules (“Final Rules“) that enhance and standardize the disclosure of climate-related information in registration statements and Exchange Act reports. The Final Rules were scaled back after years of significant feedback from registrants and other stakeholders, with the Commission receiving more than 24,000 comment letters in response to the initial rule proposal (“Proposed Rules“) in March 2022 (see our firm’s key takeaways regarding the Proposed Rules and their impact here and here).

Below we discuss, among others: (i) the key takeaways and requirements for climate disclosures under the Final Rules, (ii) the key differences between the Proposed Rules and Final Rules, (iii) the expected compliance dates for disclosures under the Final Rules, and (iv) some practical considerations for companies that are subject to multiple climate disclosure regimes and regulations such as the new California and European Union climate reporting requirements.

Click here to access the full alert.

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Jeremy Moore is a member of the Firm's North America Transactional Practice Group based in the Houston office.

Author

David Hackett advises senior management, legal departments and boards of major corporations and nonprofits on compliance, risk, environmental and sustainability matters. He has exceptional experience managing US and international compliance and environmental projects, including the evaluation and development of effective compliance and sustainability programs. He also has extensive experience litigating major civil and criminal environmental matters. David sits on multiple nonprofit boards and additionally advises many civic and nonprofit organizations across the globe. Following his tenure with the Environmental Enforcement Division of the US Department of Justice, David joined the Firm where he has played a formative role in the establishment of the Firm's compliance, environmental, climate and ESG practices. At Baker McKenzie, David has served as the managing partner of North America, a member of the Global Executive Committee, and Chicago office managing partner. He has also been the North America Chair of both the Compliance Practice Group and the Banking, Finance and Major Projects Practice Group.

Author

Adam Buehler is a senior associate in the Miami office of Baker McKenzie and a member of the North America Transactional Group. Adam represents clients in the areas of public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, public company securities law compliance, and global reorganization transactions.
Adam is also proficient in German.

Author

Sarah J. Rodrigue is an associate in the Firm's North America Transactional Practice Group based in the Houston office. Ms. Rodrigue regularly advises on a wide variety of corporate and securities matters including public and private securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic cross-border transactions and investments. Sarah began her career with the Firm as a summer associate in both 2018 and 2019.

Author

Francesca Gottardi is an associate in the Corporate & Securities and Mergers & Acquisitions practice groups of Baker McKenzie's Houston office. She has previously worked as a law clerk at General Electric. Francesca has published research on international law and human rights. She has also taught the courses "Law, Politics, and Society," and "International Human Rights" at the University of Cincinnati (OH).

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