Finance regulators becoming involved in climate change
- Ben Geman, author of Axios Generate
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Biden-era financial regulators are getting increasingly involved in climate — if not as much as some advocates want — and this week is bringing fresh signs of the trend.
Driving the news: The Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that it's sending letters to corporations seeking more complete disclosures about their climate-related risks.
"[A] person familiar with the matter said they had been sent to firms in industries including agriculture, oil and gas, banking, real estate and trucking," the WSJ reports.
The big picture: The SEC is sending letters to companies about responses to a 2010 guidance on climate disclosures.
It also comes as the commission is preparing to write new, mandatory disclosure regulations.
Driving the news, part 2: The White House is nominating Cornell University law professor Saule Omarova to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a key banking oversight post.
- Climate activists cheered the pick, seeing Omarova as someone who will actively push the banking sector on climate risk and cleaner investment.
- The group Evergreen Action said Biden has "chosen someone who isn’t afraid to take on Wall Street and has supported bold, federal clean energy investments on climate."