Articles
Climate Change Poses Complex Risks For the United States’ Financial System
Climate change poses complex risks for the United States’ financial system, especially if markets fail to adapt to the rapid changes that already are underway. In this new report, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission warns that financial regulators in the U.S. “must recognize that climate change poses serious emerging risks for the U.S. financial system, and they should move urgently and decisively to measure, understand and address these risks.” Managing these risks requires that corporations disclose “information on material, climate-related financial risks is an essential building block to ensure that climate risks are measured and managed effectively.”
The Case for “Climate Pragmatism”
In the July/August 2020 issue of Foreign Affairs, Hal Harvey, the CEO of Energy Innovation, makes the case for “climate pragmatism”— a plan to divert cash flows away from fossil fuels in the most carbon-intensive sectors of the economy: transportation, buildings, energy production and manufacturing. Harvey contends that policies like renewable energy portfolio standards, progressive building codes, vehicle fuel efficiency standards, carbon pricing and “buy clean” policies for governments are generally easier than raising taxes or engaging in federal deficit spending. This strategy “focuses on the most consequential decisions and is backed by a deep understanding of who makes the key choices” that result in carbon emissions, Harvey writes. (Subscription required.)
Getting to a Carbon-Free Economy
Author: Jeffrey Sachs. Publication: The American Prospect. Topic: Getting to a Carbon-Free Economy. “To beat Big Oil, the Green New Deal advocates need a specific plan: one that demonstrates how decarbonization will work, and how it will benefit every part of the country…The good news is that the specifics of a Green New Deal to decarbonize the energy system are finally coming into focus… Decarbonization to save the planet is actually the greatest bargain of our time.”