Comments to Federal Insurance Office on Climate Risk
By Yevgeny Shrago
Today, Public Citizen joined 39 other public interest and advocacy organizations in submitting a comment responding to the Federal Insurance Office’s (FIO) request for information on the insurance sector and climate-related financial risks. The comment calls on FIO, an office of the United States Department of Treasury, to:
- Raise the alarm about troubling gaps in federal and state oversight of insurers’ climate-related risks
- Bring attention to the true victims of this continued irresponsible conduct by most insurers and regulators: low-income communities, communities of color, and other vulnerable populations who are most at risk from the climate crisis, threats to financial stability, and insurers’ rate increases and market exits.
- Inform the public about the contribution that insurers make to the climate
crisis and help provide an accurate assessment of how well they meet their own sustainability
commitments.
The comment provides detailed recommendations for how FIO can use its statutory data collection, reporting, and coordinating authorities to achieve these goals.
Public Citizen also individually submitted a comment providing additional detail and analysis of the challenges posed by the climate crisis to insurance markets and consumers and the role that FIO can play in developing and implementing solutions to those challenges.