Arlington, Va. (March 6, 2024) – Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning today released the following statement after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) voted to finalize new climate risk disclosure rules:
“Sustainability is a top priority for Aerospace Industries Association members, and we recognize the importance of addressing the climate impacts of our products and operations,” Fanning said. “That is why commercial aviation manufacturers have made a commitment to work with airline customers and governments around the world to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We are pleased to see more realistic rules from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding how public companies should disclose climate risks.
“In particular, we appreciate the understanding that Scope 3 emissions at this moment are far too difficult to track with sufficient accuracy and would overly burden aerospace companies and their supply chain. We also thank the SEC for extending the schedule to allow our companies to better prepare for the impacts of this rule,” Fanning said. “As this rule is implemented, the aerospace industry will continue to be a close partner with the U.S. government to reduce carbon emissions and create a greener future.”
Fanning testified at the House Science Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight on potential concerns with this and similar rules in September 2023, where he described the rule, as originally written, as “not executable for the aerospace and defense industry.” Read Fanning’s full testimony here. AIA also submitted comments to the SEC regarding the impacts of this rule on the industry in June 2022. Read those comments here.
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