AFREF submitted comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on its proposal to modernize the regulatory process to better account for racial and economic inequality, climate change, and other factors within economic analysis; and improve transparency and empower and benefit members of marginalized communities through the regulatory process.
“Despite its public statements to the contrary, Carlyle is a driving force behind climate change through its substantial financing of greenhouse gas emitting sectors,” said Oscar Valdés Viera, co-author and research manager at the Americans for Financial Reform education fund.
A new investigation reveals that the Carlyle Group has been quietly scooping up fossil fuel assets over the past decade, producing an estimated 277 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
AFREF submitted a comment letter in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s request for information for the Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program (ECJ Program), which provides funding for financial and technical assistance to carry out environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities. The letter highlights the need for the ECJ Program to minimize barriers for the most climate-vulnerable applicants, prioritize the needs and perspectives of all underrepresented or historically marginalized community members, and prioritize projects that combat the harmful effects of bluelining by financial service providers.
AFREF led 14 organizations in the housing, consumer protection, climate, civil rights, and community investment spaces, in a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding the Federal Home Loan Bank system, arguing for expanded contributions to affordable housing to justify the public investment in the system, and for the system to undertake a number of initiatives to support members in reducing their climate risk and climate vulnerability.
Climate change is a risk multiplier that exacerbates racial and economic inequality, and it is progressing at an alarming rate. Acute and increasingly frequent climate-related disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes, as well as chronic issues such as heat stress, sea level rise, and drought,
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule takes an important step to safeguard the savings of millions of workers who participate in private-sector employee benefit plans by allowing workers’ private retirement plans and pensions to consider sustainability factors like climate change, workers’ rights, racial, economic and environmental justice, and corporate governance when investing and voting proxies.
The Carlyle Group, Warburg Pincus, and KKR are the top three offenders on climate among private equity firms, continuing to invest in polluting industries and exposing investors to significant climate-related risk, according to a new scorecard developed by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF).
The SEC’s regulatory agenda is under attack, and Chair Gary Gensler is appearing before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow. This memo for the media addresses the SEC’s work across eight different areas.
More than 90 organizations—including the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) and Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (AFREF) —submitted two comment letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today urging the agency to enshrine stronger rules for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing to stop the current practice of “greenwashing.”