On September 12, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an order to hold the petitions challenging the SEC’s climate disclosure rules in abeyance, pending further action from the SEC. The order follows the SEC’s July 23, 2025, status report, which stated that the SEC does not intend to review or rescind its climate disclosure rules “at this time” and instead urged the court to proceed with the litigation and decide the case. The status report is discussed in our previous post.

The order effectively tells the SEC to either recommit to defending its climate disclosure rules or initiate a formal reconsideration process, with the requisite notice-and-comment periods. The court stated in pertinent part “[t]hese petitions for review will be held in abeyance to promote judicial economy until such time as the Securities and Exchange Commission reconsiders the challenged Final Rules by notice-and-comment rulemaking or renews its defense of the Final Rules.” The court noted the rules have been stayed by the SEC and that the petitioners would not be materially prejudiced by the abeyance.