Washington (March 6, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, released the following?statement on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) final climate disclosure rule: 

“Climate-related risks are financial risks, and investors have a right to know the full scope of a public company’s emissions profile. This SEC decision will let big corporations off the hook in the United States, allowing them to avoid disclosure of emissions from throughout their supply chains. It means big promises without any real accountability to deliver emissions reductions, despite these same entities having to provide this information in the European Union and in California starting in 2026. We cannot allow major companies to put investors, markets, and our economy at risk by failing to mandate key information.” 

In July 2022, Senator Markey led a letter to Chair Gary Gensler urging for the SEC to strengthen its proposed rule on disclosure of climate-related risks by requiring Scope 3 emissions, in addition to Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. The letter also asked the SEC to require the disclosure of risks to environmental justice communities in the final rule. In March 2023, Senator Markey and Representatives Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) reintroduced the Fossil Free Finance Act, which would direct the Federal Reserve to require banks and other financial institutions to stop financing projects that would increase greenhouse gas emissions and to align financing with science-based emission targets.