Republican Wall St regulator suggests revising draft US climate rule - Reuters

Republican Wall St regulator suggests revising draft US climate rule | Reuters

Republican Wall St regulator suggests revising draft US climate rule

[1/2]U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A member of the Republican minority on the top U.S. securities regulator asked his colleagues on Tuesday to consider revising draft regulation on disclosing climate-related risks which has stoked fierce debate and expectations of lawsuits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been wading through some 16,000 letters received in response to a proposal released in March 2022 that would force listed companies to formally report their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks.

Mark Uyeda, one of two Republicans on the five-member SEC board, suggested in remarks prepared for an event in New York that the agency should consider starting the process again.

"Before the Commission adopts any final rule that significantly deviates from the proposal, it should seriously consider re-proposing the rule with revised rule text and an updated economic analysis," the text of Uyeda's speech said.

The rule was originally expected earlier this year but the timetable is now unclear.

Uyeda has previously echoed the influential U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobby group in expressing concerns it would increase the cost of doing business.

It would need votes from three of the five commissioners to pass. Democrats, who currently outnumber their conservative opponents, have been broadly friendlier to environmental regulation in recent years.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler told reporters at an event in Washington that he had not yet reviewed Uyeda's comments.

"We've finalized a couple dozen rules and we do make modifications but we generally do adopt," Gensler said.

The current draft would in some cases ask companies to make difficult assessments of greenhouse gas emissions created throughout their supply chains, and to lay out risks like physical damage and disruption from severe weather events.

Reporting by Isla Binnie in New York, additional reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio

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