Department of Labor Rule Backs Socially Responsible Investing for Private Pension Plans
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Labor today issued a proposed rule that would empower private sector pension plans to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks into the investments they manage. Rachel Curley, democracy advocate for Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“Shareholders have a right to know what the companies they own are up to. When corporations don’t disclose and manage environmental, workplace, human rights, and political engagement factors, they put their shareholders at risk.
“The Department of Labor has done right by pension plan beneficiaries with this new rule. The rule reverses a harmful Trump era policy that was simply a sloppy handout to huge corporations. Investors increasingly are interested in integrating climate risk, political activity, workforce issues, human rights, and corporate tax information into their investment strategies, and many ESG funds outperform traditional funds. The new rule empowers private sector pension plans to consider ESG risks into their investments.”