Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois are urging federal banking regulators to take “decisive action” on climate-related financial risks and accusing the agencies of thwarting a global agreement on the issue.
In a letter released Friday, the Democratic lawmakers wrote that they were “alarmed by the weaknesses” revealed in the Federal Reserve’s recent pilot program to assess how the nation’s six largest banks were looking at climate change risks.
The Fed found the banks faced a range of data gaps and modeling challenges as the institutions sought to examine the financial risks to their businesses that stem from rising global temperatures.
“These findings cast serious doubt on the preparedness of our banks and financial system for climate-related financial risks,” Warren and Casten wrote in their letter, which was signed by more than a dozen other lawmakers.
