Priorities for the Next Federal Reserve Chair: Assertively Take On Climate-Related Risk

August 16, 2021


Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is up for renomination at a critical time for climate action. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report provides a grim diagnosis of current and future climate harms and emphasizes that the actions we take over the next decade will be crucial if we want to avoid irreversible tipping points. So far, Jerome Powell has taken little to no action to mitigate climate risk in the financial system in his position as Federal Reserve (Fed) chair. The next Fed chair should adopt a dramatically different approach to climate than Powell has exhibited, one that works proactively to eliminate climate risk from the financial system.