FSOC Climate Progress Report Must Prompt Further Action to Protect Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) today released a progress report on the actions regulators have taken to address the impacts of climate change on the U.S. financial system. In the report, the Council recommends that FSOC members take new actions on climate change data, disclosure, and scenario analysis. In response, Anne Perrault, senior climate finance policy counsel with Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Nearly two years ago, the FSOC warned that climate was “an emerging and increasing risk to financial stability” and urged regulators to bolster the resiliency of the financial system to this risk.
“While the institutions represented on the Council have made proposals, they have taken few concrete actions that might prevent some of the worst financial impacts related to the climate crisis. In the interim, insurance companies have hiked rates, and fled whole portions of the country. As we suffer through the hottest months in recorded history, alarm bells should be ringing, and regulators should be acting.
“The report includes valuable recommendations to collect more data, better assess risks, and enhance coordination. But the window for effective action to protect our financial system and economy from climate-related threats, and even financial crises, is closing rapidly. Treasury and other FSOC members must pick up the pace.”
Read Public Citizen’s Climate Roadmap for U.S. Financial Regulation here.
# # #