SACRAMENTO, CA — As California’s first emissions reporting deadline approaches, the California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) is seeking an injunction to block implementation of the state’s emissions transparency law, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253).
The initial Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions reporting deadline is Tuesday, November 10, and guidance for Scope 3 emissions reporting is forthcoming. Rather than let implementation move forward, CalChamber is pursuing another legal challenge that threatens to create further uncertainty and delay.
The Legislature has reaffirmed the law twice since it passed. In 2024, SB 219 made technical updates to streamline reporting. In 2025, AB 154 protected the law from attacks using the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Corporations have had three years to prepare for their first emissions disclosure report. Polluting industry opponents are now trying, once again, to stop companies from having to disclose their emissions, even as the process has fallen behind schedule.
“CalChamber wants Californians to believe corporate climate transparency is too much to ask, even after companies have had three years to prepare. The real question is why they’re still fighting to keep the public in the dark about corporate pollution,” said Gracyna Mohabir, Sr. Regulatory Advocate, EnviroVoters. “Implementing this law is one of the most consequential things California can do on climate right now. Our state can’t afford to let powerful corporate interests dictate whether the public gets basic and transparent data about the pollution driving skyrocketing insurance, energy, and grocery bills, and fueling worsening extreme climate disasters.”
The law faced intense opposition from the oil and gas industry, but ultimately passed with support from numerous corporate leaders, including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Levi’s, and Patagonia, among others. Major corporations recognized the value of clear, consistent climate disclosure requirements then and still do now with so many submitting their Scope 1 and 2 emissions well before the November 10 deadline. Yet, industry opposition continues to threaten the law’s implementation, putting the interests of corporate polluters ahead of the public’s right to understand the impacts of the companies doing business in California.
At a time when corporate power is being used to weaken environmental safeguards and evade accountability, transparency is essential. According to CARB, more than 40 countries, making up 60% of the global GDP, are already doing emissions reporting, and as the fifth-largest economy, California has a responsibility to use its market power to lead. With the backdrop of a federal government systematically dismantling our clean air protections, California must move forward with implementation of SB 253, deliver the remaining guidance, and ensure that powerful industry interests cannot indefinitely delay the transparency Californians deserve.
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