Amicus Brief: State of Iowa v. Securities and Exchange Commission on Climate Risk Disclosure Rule

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund filed an amicus brief in the 8th Circuit. View or download a PDF of the brief here.

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund joined Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Sierra Club Foundation in an amicus brief in State of Iowa v. SEC, which was filed in the 8th Circuit in March 2024. This brief supports the SEC’s 2024 climate risk disclosure rule which requires public companies to disclose information about their climate-related financial risks to better inform investors. The brief asks the 8th Circuit reject the arguments of the petitioners and hold that the SEC has statutory authority to require climate-related financial disclosures. It makes a case that the agency has long exercised its authority to expand required environmental disclosures as market circumstances and risks have changed, and that investor demand was the driving force for the SEC to regulate to standardize this information so that it is more accurate, comparable, and decision-useful compared to voluntary disclosures to date.