White House unveils climate finance road map

Report outlines projects to address the risks climate change poses to the US

Many of the projects in the report are not new (Getty Images)

The White House published a report on Friday outlining projects to measure and address the risks that climate change poses to Americans and the economy, including programmes to better incorporate climate threats into federal lending programmes and budgeting processes.

Many of the projects laid out in the report are not new, including mandatory disclosure rules under consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission to bring more clarity to investors about climate change-related investment risk.

But the report highlights government-wide efforts to address the issues at a key moment, weeks before President Joe Biden participates in the 31 October-12 November Cop26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

“We have more work to do, but this is a critical first step in our efforts to address the systemic threat that climate change poses to our economy, our workers and our families as well as our retirees,” White House domestic climate change adviser Gina McCarthy said on a call with reporters previewing the report.

The report pledges that the White House will include an assessment of the federal government’s climate risk exposure in its annual budget and notes that government agencies will improve federal underwriting and lending programme standards to better address the climate-related financial risks to their loan portfolios.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is also working to identify options to incorporate climate-related considerations into mortgages, the White House said.

The report responds to an executive order Mr Biden issued in May requiring development of a government-wide climate-risk strategy within 120 days, as well as an annual assessment of climate-related fiscal risks as part of the US budget.

Reuters