Amid legal challenges, SEC pauses its climate rule

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pausing the implementation of its new climate disclosure rule while it defends the regulation in court.

Wall Street’s top regulator voted in March on the final rule, which requires some public companies in the U.S. to report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks.

The SEC said it had stayed the rule in part to avoid regulatory uncertainty for companies that might have been subject to the rule while litigation against it proceeds. The rule is pending review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

The rule adopted in early March was watered down from what the nation’s top financial regulator had proposed two years ago, after it faced lobbying and criticism from business and trade groups and Republican-led states that argued that the SEC had overstepped its mandate.