climate Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Americans for Financial Reform

Letters to Regulators: EPA RFI on Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program

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.

Letters to Regulators: Letter to FHFA on the Federal Home Loan Bank System

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 Vulnerability and Banking

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,

News Release: Department of Labor to Allow Retirement Plans to Consider Sustainability, Jobs, Equity, and Worker Rights

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.

News Release: New Scorecard Shows Private Equity’s Race to the Bottom on Climate

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).

Media Memo: The SEC’s regulatory agenda is under attack, and Chair Gary Gensler is appearing before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow.

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.

News Release: Coalition tells SEC Rules Must Stop Wall Street Greenwashing & Other Exaggerated Claims that Mislead Investors

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.”

News Release: SEC ESG Rule aims to End Greenwashing and Increase Transparency

As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) closes a comment period on two proposed rules that would create a standard framework for funds classified as environmental, social, and governance (ESG), advocacy groups today called on the agency to adopt stricter standards for the fastest-growing investment asset sector in the world.

News Release: Organizations Garner Over 60,000 Signatures Urging SEC to Strengthen Climate Risk Disclosure Rule as Comment Period Closes

Over 60,000 people support strong climate disclosure rules proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and over 10,000 individual comments were submitted during the public input period, which closes today.

A pair of hands writing on paper with a pen

Letters to Regulators: Letter to PCAOB in Response to Request for Comment on Interim Analysis of Estimates and Specialists Audit Requirements

AFREF and Public Citizen sent a letter to PCAOB in response to their request for comment on their Interim Analysis of Estimates and Specialists Audit Requirements.