The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which covers states like Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, recently granted an administrative stay to temporarily halt the Climate Disclosures Rules released by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) early this month.

The stay was the result of a petition filed by oilfield services company Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services against the SEC.

The rules exceed the scope of SEC’s jurisdiction, place unnecessary extra costs on industries and violate First Amendment rights, the plaintiffs allege.

The rules require registrants to disclose certain climate-related information like their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in registration statements and annual reports.

“We believe that the Climate Rule is arbitrary and capricious, as it requires public companies to spend significant resources to provide information in their SEC filings in response to climate change without reliable support of any clear resulting benefit,” Chris Wright, chief executive officer of Liberty Energy, said in a statement.

Several other complainants, such as the Sierra Club the Sierra Club Foundation, represented by Earthjustice, have also filed similar challenges in other courts. The new requirements have faced criticism for ‘weakening’ the reporting requirements, according to US media reports.

While the Sierra Club stands with the SEC’s authority to create rules around climate, it argued that the latter’s approach was not holistic enough to truly protect investors.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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