Officials managing the portfolios for public pension funds in Democrat-led states and cities are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission not to repeal a Biden-era rule requiring publicly traded companies to inform investors about climate emissions and risks, saying retirement systems need that information to be readily available.
Nina Chen, who serves as senior climate finance officer under New York City comptroller Mark Levine, said in an interview with POLITICO that SEC disclosures would give investors information about climate risks that might affect investment returns — and any plans to manage those risks.
That information is hard for investors to get any other way, she said. While large investors like the New York City Comptroller’s Office, which manages the investment portfolios for five New York City retirement systems, can have their asset managers ask companies for information on material issues outside of the formal disclosure process that comes at a cost and is inefficient, she said.
“There’s nobody that can fill the role of the SEC,” said Chen, who served in the Biden administration as the chief climate risk officer at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates the nationally chartered banks. “That’s why we need the SEC. We need the federal financial regulator to do their job.”
