Climate Policy News You Can Use — December 2025

Published: December 22, 2025 by Daniel Neff

Dear Colleagues,

It’s hard to believe 2025 is coming to a close. In a year of uncertainty and upheaval, we are still proud to see strong commitment to corporate decarbonization. Policy will play a central role in the years to come and will enable companies to continue rapid decarbonization.

We hope everyone can get some rest over this Holiday break, and please reach out to us in the new year to discuss what we’re anticipating for 2026. Happy Holidays and cheers to a new year!

New rulemaking period for CARB Disclosure Rules

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has published an initial proposed rule related to its climate disclosure laws, addressing mostly definitions, administrative fees, and an August 10, 2026 deadline for initial Scope 1 and 2 emissions reports. Comments are due February 9, 2026.

Take Action

Provide input to CARB – by February 9, 2026 – on the importance of climate risk reporting, the ways you already engage with reporting standards and frameworks (such as the GHG Protocol and TCFD, which the laws incorporate), and any other information that could help ensure effective implementation of these laws.

Go Deeper

Read letters from companies on their support for the CA climate risk disclosure laws, and EDF’s statement on the signing of the laws.
See CARB’s resources on implementation.

Final omnibus agreement reached in the EU

Earlier this week, the European Parliament officially voted in favor of the agreement on the simplification on the EU Corporate Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) as part of the Omnibus package. The scope for CSDDD now encompasses companies with over 5,000 employees (and over 1.5 billion euros net turnover), and the scope for CSRD is now 1,000 employees (and over 450 million euros net turnover). This final legislation comes after months of debate and amendments.

Please reach out if you want to discuss more about the specifics of where the final agreement landed and its impact on your value chain, transition planning, and materiality assessments.

NHTSA proposes weakened CAFE Standards

On December 3, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a proposal to reset the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE). The standards have a proven track record of improving gas mileage for millions of American vehicles – from cars to trucks – and the more fuel-efficient vehicles have saved money for Americans and businesses. Weakening the standard would undermine auto industry innovation and investment as well as lead to more wasted gas, more pollution, and higher costs for families and businesses.

Take Action

Urge NHTSA to maintain a strong CAFE standard by submitting comments due January 20, 2026.
Participate in NHTSA’s January 7, 2026 hearing to share your perspective on why a strong CAFE standard is key to your business.

Go Deeper

See EDF’s statement for more.

Keeping up with the US Administration

Today, Thursday, December 18, 2025, FERC took up a proceeding for the co-location of data centers and power plants, in which it discussed how PJM will address the transmission links to the broader grid of such power plants.

ICYMI – Things we’re tracking

Webinar Series: Embedding Climate Action into Business Value
EDF Report: Clean Energy Manufacturing Investments Dropped $3.4 Billion Last Month
EDF Blog: Overturning the Endangerment Finding would mean more pollution, more harm, higher costs
EDF B log: Flawed hydrogen tax credit implementation could undermine billions in U.S. projects
EDF Blog: For investors in AI, these 5 questions can help unpack environmental risk

Thank you for reading, and if this was forwarded to you, email us to subscribe!

Best,
Daniel Neff on behalf of the Climate Policy Leadership Team