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John,
Today we announced [[link removed]] a significant next step in three of the New York City public pension funds’ plan to decarbonize our portfolio:
I support the exclusion of all midstream and downstream fossil fuel infrastructure from future private markets investments of New York City’s public pension funds!
In other words, we are exploring a policy that will stop future investments in projects like pipelines, distribution facilities and natural gas terminals. You can watch our full announcement here. [[link removed]]
To be sure, we’ll have some work to do to develop this proposal and present it to the Boards. Climate risk is financial risk and this announcement was made with the commitment to maintaining strong returns for the future health of our long-term investments.
I was proud to stand with many advocates, pension fund beneficiaries, grassroots climate groups, and New Yorkers who care deeply about our planet and retirement security to make this announcement.
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Thanks to New York Communities for Change, Fridays for Future, Climate Families NYC, 350, Sierra Club, and many others.
It’s a sacred responsibility of the Comptroller’s Office to make sure we earn a maximum risk-adjusted return for our nearly 800,000 current and future retirees who make NYC great.
And we can achieve this while being thoughtful and responsible about how we invest those dollars for the long term. It is incumbent on investors to understand the systemic risk that climate change presents to our planet and our portfolios.
Today’s announcement builds upon our broader climate action and our Net Zero Implementation Plan [[link removed]] . Here are some more climate wins we’ve achieved under my office’s leadership.
*
Completed
divestment
from
publicly
traded
fossil
fuel
reserve
owners.


*
Established
an
exclusion
policy
in
upstream
fossil
fuels
in
private
markets.




*
Led
shareholder
campaigns
that
persuaded
JP
Morgan
Chase,
Citibank,
and
Royal
Bank
of
Canada
to
disclose
the
ratio
of
their
green
vs.
fossil
fuel
financing,
with
the
goal
of
making
this
a
sector-wide
standard
that
supports
the
energy
transition
on
a
Paris-aligned
timeline.


*
Led
shareholder
engagement
with
utilities
(a
leading
source
of
Scope
1
and
2
emissions
in
our
portfolio)
to
decrease
their
carbon
footprint
in
line
with
the
Paris
Accords.


*
Adopted
an
ambitious
net-zero
plan,
which
includes
expectations
that
all
of
the
funds’
public
markets
investment
managers
will
have
net-zero
plans
in
place
by
2025,
and
private
market
investment
managers
by
2026.


*
Increased
investments
in
renewable
energy
and
climate
solutions
to
over
$11
billion.
Just ask any New Yorker who’s weathered extreme rainfall and blistering summers in recent memory: The impacts of the climate crisis are playing out in real time.
Excluding pipelines and LNG terminals from future investments will help mitigate the systemic risks that climate change poses to the global economy and to New York City’s public pension funds.
Learn more about the Office of the Comptroller’s work confronting the climate crisis. [[link removed]]
Thanks,
Brad
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Office of the New York City Comptroller
Our mailing address is:
Office of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander
1 Centre Street
New York, NY 10007
United States
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