The Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA decision in June 2022 has raised a key question in the ESG space: What authority do financial regulators have to impose climate reporting? With the SEC on the cusp of finalizing a broad-based climate reporting rule and federal banking regulators looking to incorporate climate change scenarios into stress tests, these regulations will likely be challenged in court.
Are these regulations likely to survive? Or will federal courts strike them down? Did Congress grant the regulators these powers?
On October 21, Venable partner Jay C. Johnson served as a panelist in a CRE Finance Council webinar, “Climate, Courts, and CRE: Will the SEC Climate Rule Survive?” He and other panelists discussed the landmark West Virginia case, key climate proposals, and how a regulation might be struck down or upheld.