Thread by @brianschatz

An international group of more than 30 banks and bank supervisors, including China, Japan, England, France, Germany have taken the lead in addressing the risk that climate change presents to the financial system.

They assert that financial institutions face new and growing risk from droughts, floods, storms, wildfires, and sea level rise. These events could reduce the value of assets, decrease investment income, increase insured and uninsured losses, and disrupt financial institutions.

They take this seriously not because they are conservationists who care about birds and butterflies ( I care about birds and butterflies) but because the health of the financial system is at stake.

So, I wrote a letter along with 19 other Senators to the FDIC, the FED, and the OCC asking them
1) has your agency assessed the physical and transition risks that U.S. financial institutions face as a result of climate change? Is an assessment of climate change even done?

2. Does your agency assess the systematic risks that climate change could pose to the financial system?

3. If yes, what tools and models do you use to inform such assessments?

4. Has your agency assessed if the US financial system is resilient to such risks, or taken any actions to increase the resiliency of of the financial system to climate change?

5. Has your agency conducted research, held events, formed working groups, or some other actions to address climate change?

There is no way to say this diplomatically. Their answers were garbage. The highlights: according to the Fed, severe weather isn't new and climate change isn't their responsibility. . The American agencies that oversee the financial system have decided to ignore climate change.

This is in direct contrast to almost every other industrialized country and their regulatory agencies. Whether they are run by right wing or left wing governments, everyone else is taking financial risk related to climate change seriously. Except in America.

The risk related to coastal real estate, stranded assets, to aviation, to farms, to fisheries, to tourism is well documented. The Bank of England is worried. Swiss Re and the big reinsurance companies are sounding the alarm. Folks, there is a climate financial bubble. END