Thread by @NatKeohane

Today, @CFTC, a key US financial regulator, released its first-ever climate report, looking at how climate change threatens the US financial system & the economy. I was an author.

This is big news for Wall Street & Main Street. Thread below on why ⬇️

nyti.ms/3bGqP6J

1) The report is the first report on climate-related financial risk under the auspices of a U.S. government regulator

It immediately shifts the debate from whether climate threatens the U.S. financial system, to how to deal with that threat. bit.ly/3bSKYqB

2) There’s a LOT of credibility behind the report

The @CFTC subcommittee that authored & *unanimously* approved it includes 34 experts representing a wide range of orgs: banks, asset managers, energy & agricultural sectors, as well as environmental NGOs: cftc.gov/About/CFTCComm…

3) The central finding: Unchecked climate change threatens the stability of our financial system.

Climate impacts are already causing damage to infrastructure, housing, crops, communities around the US – & therefore to the value of financial assets: edf.org/Zmht

4) This report underscores the risks of what we *don’t* know. Climate change presents multiple risks to financial institutions but we lack the information to know how/when they will happen.

This is why financial regulators must act urgently to address & manage climate risk.

5) Most importantly, this report gives financial regulators a comprehensive set of recommendations--a blueprint for action.

Key steps include requiring companies to disclose more climate risk and clarifying that climate risk deserves consideration by pension & retirement funds.

6) Finally, this report underscores the financial community's role in moving to a clean economy, *but* it recognizes they cannot do it all.

Lawmakers must pass policies that encourage companies to curb greenhouse gas emissions, like a price on carbon: bit.ly/3bSKYqB