The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a long-anticipated rule to mandate that companies issue reports to investors on the effects of their operations on climate change.

The commission voted 3-2 to adopt the rule, part of President Joe Biden’s broader climate agenda, which envisions cutting greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by the end of the decade when compared to 2005 levels.

The controversial rule was first proposed last March and creates guidelines for how and what companies must report to investors about how their operations affect the climate. It says companies must report direct greenhouse gas emissions — reports that would be audited by an outside party.

The rule is significantly pared back from a proposed version by omitting a requirement that corporations disclose emissions generated by suppliers and customers. Still, it is expected to face legal challenges from the industry.

Self-reporting of climate information has already become commonplace in business as investors increasingly embrace environmental, social, and governance standards, known as ESG, but the rule would take the trend a step further by imposing reporting requirements.

ESG proponents argue that is a way that finance and business can help reform society, such as by mitigating the negative effects of climate change. Those who oppose ESG say it distorts the economy and even America’s culture.

The Wednesday vote is scaled back from the proposed rule by dropping a requirement that corporations report “Scope 3” emissions, a provision hotly contested by industry. The SEC organizes corporate emissions into three categories, known as scopes. Scope 1 includes direct emissions, Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions, such as those involved in the use of electricity, and Scope 3 measures the emissions of other entities, such as suppliers or customers, in a company’s value chain.

Still, even without the Scope 3 requirement, there are some very vocal critics of the rule.

The American Securities Association issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the move. President and CEO Chris Iacovella said that the move showed the SEC “is anti-investor and pro-Wall Street.”

“This scheme does achieve one objective; it forces an enormous transfer of wealth from working families and savers to the ESG professional class whose elites will reap windfall profits from the rule,” he said.

Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research, said that Wednesday should be “considered the darkest day in the history of the SEC.”

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“With this decision, the commission has mocked its statutory authority, extended the reach of its regulations beyond public markets where it belongs, and applied countless new costs onto the American public,” he said. “It’s also an egregious example of swamp politics.”

The new rule will inevitably face challenges in the courts, with opponents arguing that the SEC has gone beyond its mandate.