Perrault writes op-ed on the mounting costs of climate risk for imperiled cities
Anne Perrault's op-ed in the Hill argues for a bold reimagining of financial risk and responsibility in the era of climate change.
Imperiled cities, mounting costs: Facing the big climate risk blindspot
As the planet warms, Annapolis, Md., faces rising seas, supercharged storms and costly damage to public and private property. Worried about the city’s ability to pay its bills, Annapolis officials recently sued more than 20 oil and gas companies, demanding financial help for the damage. The lawsuit, like those filed by other cities and states, claims the companies knew their fossil fuels would contribute to a changing climate and catastrophic impacts.
While these suits slowly wind through the courts, financial regulators are sounding similar alarms, observing that cities and other public entities face major financial risks from a changing climate. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently joined the growing list of regulators creating committees to ponder a response to this risk. For the moment, however, they continue to prioritize solutions that reduce risks to private sector actors, promoting, for example, increased public disclosure of risks so investors can avoid harm when cities can’t make bond payments.
As important as these private sector concerns are, the current challenge demands a bolder rethink of how our financial system approaches risk, responsibility, public entities and the public interest.