October has come and gone, and the chances of seeing a final rendition of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed climate disclosure rule before the year’s end are rapidly diminishing. But the delay has not kept those closely awaiting news from sharing their views on the potential new rule.
On October 25th, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released content that highlighted its timeline of engagement with the SEC’s climate disclosure rule over the course of the last 2 years. Notably and right out of the gate, the Chamber calls the rule “a fragmented, unharmonized approach to mandatory disclosure requirements [that] risks damaging U.S. capital markets and weakening our economy’s competitiveness.” But the Chamber makes it clear that they have been avid followers of the rule since before it even hit public knowledge.
The timeline stretches from June of 2021 all the way to June 2023 and emphasizes the key points in the process where the Chamber scrutinized the Commission, questioning the overall need for the rule in the first place. Reasons like “counterproductive,” “limiting,” “unnecessarily broad,” “incomplete understanding,” “conflicting,” and “expensive” were all arguments that the Chamber made to the Commission in its previous engagements.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the SEC need to realize that many concerns still exist surrounding its proposed climate rule. It’s evident that more perspectives need to be taken into consideration before the Commission attempts to put forth a rule established amidst growing opposition.