ST. LOUIS—The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University today filed an amicus brief on behalf of 17 First Amendment scholars defending the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s climate disclosure rule. The brief argues that disclosure requirements of this kind that protect the investing public generally do not raise First Amendment concerns.

“Disclosure requirements that protect investors are an integral part of the regulation of securities and have not historically raised First Amendment concerns,” said Ramya Krishnan, a senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “The SEC’s new climate disclosure rule doesn’t require companies to take a moral or ideological stand on climate change—it simply seeks to provide investors with information that is relevant to their investment decisions.”

In March, the SEC adopted the new rule requiring public companies to file  disclosures about their climate-related risks. Nine lawsuits were filed challenging the new rule. A federal judicial panel sent the cases to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for consideration.

Today’s brief notes that “nothing in the Rule would prevent registrants ‘from adding their own message’ about climate change, climate-related risk, or climate-related opportunities outside of Commission filings,” and urges the court to conclude that the climate disclosure rule does not violate the First Amendment. 

“Striking down the SEC’s climate-related disclosure rule on First Amendment grounds would be disastrous not only for securities regulation but also other disclosure regimes,” said Stephanie Krent, a staff attorney at the Knight Institute. “Members of the public must be able to rely on trustworthy disclosures to make all sorts of important decisions, about everything from the stocks we buy to the food we eat and the medications we take.”

Read today’s brief here.

Read more about the case here.

In June 2022, the Knight Institute sent a letter to the SEC on behalf of 12 prominent First Amendment scholars, commenting on the agency’s proposed requirements, explaining that they do not appear to violate the First Amendment. Read the letter here.

Lawyers on the case include Krishnan, Krent, and Alex Abdo of the Knight First Amendment Institute.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, [email protected].