FACT SHEET

The Enhancement and 

Standardization of 

Climate-Related 

Disclosures: Final Rules

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PAGE 1 OF 4

Background

The importance of climate-related disclosures for investors has grown as investors, 

companies, and the markets have recognized that climate-related risks can affect a 

company’s business and its current and longer-term financial performance and position. The 

Commission has amended its disclosure requirements many times over the last 90 years 

based on the determination that the required information would be important to investment 

and voting decisions. The Commission for the last 50 years has also required disclosure 

about various environmental matters. More recently, the Commission published the 2010 

Guidance, explaining how the Commission’s existing disclosure rules may require disclosure 

of the impacts of climate change on a registrant’s business or financial condition. The final 

rules are a continuation of the Commission’s efforts to respond to investor need for more 

consistent, comparable, and reliable information about the financial effects of climate-related 

risks on a registrant’s business, as well as information about how the registrant manages 

those risks.

On March 6, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted final rules to require 

registrants to disclose certain climate-related information in registration statements and annual 

reports. The Commission proposed the rules on March 21, 2022. The public comment file is 

available online. 

The final rules require a registrant to disclose, among other things: material climate-related risks; 

activities to mitigate or adapt to such risks; information about the registrant's board of directors' 

oversight of climate-related risks and management’s role in managing material climate-related 

risks; and information on any climate-related targets or goals that are material to the registrant's 

business, results of operations, or financial condition.

Further, to facilitate investors' assessment of certain climate-related risks, the final rules require 

disclosure of Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on a phased-in basis 

by certain larger registrants when those emissions are material; the filing of an attestation report 

covering the required disclosure of such registrants’ Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 emissions, also on 

a phased-in basis; and disclosure of the financial statement effects of severe weather events 

and other natural conditions including, for example, costs and losses.

The final rules include a phased-in compliance period for all registrants, with the compliance date 

dependent on the registrant’s filer status and the content of the disclosure.
FACT SHEET | The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures: Final Rules

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PAGE 2 OF 4

Content of the Disclosures

The final rules will require a registrant to disclose: 

● Climate-related risks that have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact 

on the registrant’s business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition;

● The actual and potential material impacts of any identified climate-related risks on 

the registrant’s strategy, business model, and outlook;

● If, as part of its strategy, a registrant has undertaken activities to mitigate or adapt to 

a material climate-related risk, a quantitative and qualitative description of material 

expenditures incurred and material impacts on financial estimates and assumptions 

that directly result from such mitigation or adaptation activities;

● Specified disclosures regarding a registrant’s activities, if any, to mitigate or adapt to 

a material climate-related risk including the use, if any, of transition plans, scenario 

analysis, or internal carbon prices;

● Any oversight by the board of directors of climate-related risks and any role by 

management in assessing and managing the registrant’s material climate-related 

risks;

● Any processes the registrant has for identifying, assessing, and managing material 

climate-related risks and, if the registrant is managing those risks, whether and how 

any such processes are integrated into the registrant’s overall risk management 

system or processes;

● Information about a registrant’s climate-related targets or goals, if any, that have 

materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the registrant’s 

business, results of operations, or financial condition. Disclosures would include 

material expenditures and material impacts on financial estimates and assumptions 

as a direct result of the target or goal or actions taken to make progress toward 

meeting such target or goal;

● For large accelerated filers (LAFs) and accelerated filers (AFs) that are not otherwise 

exempted, information about material Scope 1 emissions and/or Scope 2 emissions; 

● For those required to disclose Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 emissions, an assurance 

report at the limited assurance level, which, for an LAF, following an additional 

transition period, will be at the reasonable assurance level;

● The capitalized costs, expenditures expensed, charges, and losses incurred as a 

result of severe weather events and other natural conditions, such as hurricanes, 

tornadoes, flooding, drought, wildfires, extreme temperatures, and sea level rise, 

subject to applicable one percent and de minimis disclosure thresholds, disclosed in 

a note to the financial statements; 

● The capitalized costs, expenditures expensed, and losses related to carbon offsets 

and renewable energy credits or certificates (RECs) if used as a material component 

of a registrant’s plans to achieve its disclosed climate-related targets or goals, 

disclosed in a note to the financial statements; and
FACT SHEET | The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures: Final Rules

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PAGE 3 OF 4

● If the estimates and assumptions a registrant uses to produce the financial 

statements were materially impacted by risks and uncertainties associated with 

severe weather events and other natural conditions or any disclosed climate-related 

targets or transition plans, a qualitative description of how the development of such 

estimates and assumptions was impacted, disclosed in a note to the financial 

statements.

Presentation of the Disclosures

The final rules will require a registrant (including a foreign private issuer) to:

● File the climate-related disclosure in its registration statements and Exchange Act 

annual reports filed with the Commission;

● Provide the Regulation S-K mandated climate-related disclosures either in a 

separate, appropriately captioned section of its registration statement or annual 

report or in another appropriate section of the filing, such as Risk Factors, Description 

of Business, or Management’s Discussion and Analysis, or, alternatively, by

incorporating such disclosure by reference from another Commission filing as long 

as the disclosure meets the electronic tagging requirements of the final rules; and 

● Electronically tag climate-related disclosures in Inline XBRL.

Phase-In Periods and Accommodations

The final rules will be phased in for all registrants with the compliance date dependent upon 

the status of the registrant as an LAF, an AF, or non-accelerated filer (NAF), smaller 

reporting company (SRC), or emerging growth company (EGC), and the content of the 

disclosure and provides several accommodations, including: 

● Additional phase-in periods for disclosures pertaining to material expenditures, GHG 

emissions, the assurance requirement, and the electronic tagging requirement if the 

registrant is an LAF (see compliance date table);

● A safe harbor from private liability for climate-related disclosures (excluding historical 

facts) pertaining to transition plans, scenario analysis, the use of an internal carbon 

price, and targets and goals; 

● An exemption from the GHG emissions disclosure requirement for SRCs and EGCs; 

and

● An accommodation that allows Scope 1 and/or Scope 2 emissions disclosure, if 

required, to be filed on a delayed basis as follows:

○ If a domestic registrant, in its Form 10-Q for the second fiscal quarter in the 

fiscal year immediately following the year to which the GHG emissions 

disclosure relates;
FACT SHEET | The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures: Final Rules

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PAGE 4 OF 4

○ If a foreign private issuer, in an amendment to its annual report on Form 20 

F, which shall be due no later than when such disclosure would be due for a 

domestic registrant; and

○ If filing a Securities Act or Exchange Act registration statement, as of the most 

recently completed fiscal year that is at least 225 days prior to the date of 

effectiveness of the registration statement.

What’s Next

The final rules will become effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, and 

compliance will be phased in as follows:

Compliance Dates under the Final Rules1

Registrant Type Disclosure and Financial 

Statement Effects Audit 

GHG Emissions/Assurance Electronic 

Tagging 

All Reg. S-K 

and S-X 

disclosures, 

other than as 

noted in this 

table

Item 

1502(d)(2), 

Item 

1502(e)(2), 

and Item 

1504(c)(2)

Item 1505 

(Scopes 1 

and 2 GHG 

emissions)

Item 1506 -

Limited 

Assurance

Item 1506 -

Reasonabl

e 

Assurance

Item 1508 -

Inline XBRL 

tagging for 

subpart 

15002

LAFs FYB 2025 FYB 2026 FYB 2026 FYB 2029 FYB 2033 FYB 2026 

AFs (other than SRCs 

and EGCs)

FYB 2026 FYB 2027 FYB 2028 FYB 2031 N/A FYB 2026 

SRCs, EGCs, and 

NAFs

FYB 2027 FYB 2028 N/A N/A N/A FYB 2027 

1 As used in this chart, “FYB” refers to any fiscal year beginning in the calendar year listed.

2 Financial statement disclosures under Article 14 will be required to be tagged in accordance with existing rules 

pertaining to the tagging of financial statements. See Rule 405(b)(1)(i) of Regulation S-T.