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New rules issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requiring public companies to disclose climate-related risks are now on hold, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The rules, announced March 6, aim to standardize climate-related company disclosures about emissions, weather risks, and how companies are preparing to transition to a low-carbon economy.

Most small businesses won't be required to report under the SEC rules. But if you're interested in getting ahead of the curve and capitalizing on growing customer interest in sustainability, it's worth paying attention to what could become the norm.

The climate disclosure rules were immediately challenged by several states and companies, the Journal reports. Only a week after oil field services companies Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services filed a lawsuit challenging them, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request for an administrative stay on the climate disclosure rules, according to the Journal. The New Orleans-based court didn't explain the reasoning behind the order.

This order bars the SEC from enforcing the rule while the court considers arguments. The rule wouldn't require any disclosures before March 2026 at the earliest.

"I don't think it's going to fundamentally change the trajectory," Margaret Farrell, chair of law firm Hinckley Allen's securities law group, told the Journal. "There is an obligation, which the SEC underscored a few years back, to consider the impact of climate change and climate events on the business, regardless of the new rule."

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