Nineteen AGs Filed Motion to Intervene Defending SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule

APRIL 3, 2024

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb led a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing a motion to intervene defending the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) climate-related financial risk disclosure rule. The rule faced multiple lawsuits after it was finalized, which were consolidated in the Eighth Circuit, where a coalition of states led by Iowa initially filed a petition for review. The SEC decided to stay the rule while litigation was pending. In their motion to intervene, the AGs led by Massachusetts and D.C. explained that “investors need reliable, comparable information about risks that registered companies face and how they are managing those risks,” and that “climate-related impacts are undeniably one such category of risk.” The AGs argued that because “Congress has long authorized the SEC to require disclosure of a variety of information for the benefit of investors,” the SEC was acting within its authority when it issued this rule.