Under new leadership appointed by the Trump administration, federal agencies have weakened key regulations meant to protect the economy from the financial harms of climate change. Some of the targeted regulations seek to manage climate risk; others constrain corporate actions or investment strategies on a range of environmental, social, or […]
Climate Finance
23 posts
As the physical and economic harms of climate change accumulate, corporate managers have faced increasing pressure to reduce their companies’ greenhouse gas emissions and adapt their businesses to climate-related risks. In parallel, civil society organizations and activist investors have increasingly sought to compel private sector action on climate change, while […]
What will happen to the SEC’s March 2024 climate disclosure rule under the new federal administration? A paper published by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) seeks to contribute to the upcoming debates on this question. In their joint report, […]
In recent years, climate experts and even regulators have increased attention on the financial sector as a driver of both emissions and capital formation in the low-carbon economy. There has been growing emphasis on “aligning” capital allocation by financial institutions to the transition to net zero greenhouse gases (GHG) in […]
Last week was big for green bank champions. On Thursday April 4th, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $20 billion of awards from the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) created under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Three applicants were selected under the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, […]
Now that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has released its final climate disclosure rule, attention has turned to the rule’s implementation and impact. This post is the third in a series of blogs that address specific legal features of the rule: Part One offers a summary of the final […]
In the March 6th vote to approve the SEC’s final climate disclosure rule, the Commissioners split along party lines, with the rule passing by a 3-2 vote. It received a scathing review from Commissioners Peirce and Uyeda, both of whom suggested that the SEC should have re-proposed a new rule, […]
Nearly two years and 24,000 public comments after its proposal, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its final climate disclosure rule last week, formally titled “The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” The rule expands public companies’ disclosure requirements to include certain greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data […]