Celebrating Climate Week NYC

It’s a top priority in my office. It’s been a busy [Climate Week]( here in New York City! This week I participated in several Climate Week meetings with government officials, advocates, and investors to share our experiences and plan to reach [Net Zero emissions]( in our pension portfolios (more on that below). Our plan meets the high standards the UN has established, which is why I had the honor of [joining a United Nations summit]( today to discuss it with businesses, financial institutions, and other government officials. And of course, my office kicked off the week by marching in the March to End Fossil Fuels last weekend. Check out our crew, dedicated to making our City run more sustainably! The Comptroller’s Office is tasked with financial accountability, which means taking the long-term view on the climate risks: Ensuring that City services, infrastructure, and resources are managed effectively—not only to confront challenges now, but for generations of New Yorkers to come. That’s why I’ve made confronting the climate crisis a top priority of our office. We’re working hard to stand up Public Solar NYC to [dramatically scale up solar adoption]( and make the most of the clean energy funds coming from the Inflation Reduction Act. We’ve [highlighted the urgency]( of building resilient infrastructure a decade after Hurricane Sandy devastated our communities. We developed an innovative, and feasible, [proposal to make basement apartments safer](. And we launched a [Climate Dashboard]( that enables the public to track our progress and hold the City accountable to our climate goals. But the climate crisis cannot be confronted one city at a time. We need concerted action at the scale of the global economy to transition to decarbonize. That’s why, on behalf of three NYC pension funds, [we brought shareholder resolutions]( this spring at four of the big U.S. and Canadian banks calling on them to set and disclose real goals for reducing emissions. Many European banks have recognized that confronting climate risk is aligned with their bottom line. But Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Royal Bank of Canada have so far refused to stop financing new fossil fuel infrastructure or set additional targets to reduce emissions. Even after making commitments to abide by the Paris Accords, these banks collectively lent over $1 trillion to new fossil fuel extraction projects. As you can see, finance plays a huge role in climate change whether we like it or not. That’s why I want to highlight our most consequential action to address the climate crisis yet: Three of the NYC pension funds’ [plan to reach net zero emissions]( in their investment portfolios by 2040. [Read Our Net Zero Plan]( Building on the pension funds’ historic divestment of nearly $4 billion from fossil fuel reserve owners, this plan makes NYC one of the first public pension systems in the country with a comprehensive, concrete plan to reach Net Zero. I’m proud of how New York City is leading the way on climate action. This Climate Week and beyond, let’s recommit to making long-term investments that benefit our residents, our pensioners and our planet. Thanks, Brad [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Link]( [New York City Comptroller's Office]( Copyright © 2023 New York City Comptroller's Office, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 1 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.