“A new report released today by the Sierra Club finds that most major U.S. public pensions are failing to adopt climate-solutions investing strategies needed to protect workers’ retirement savings from escalating climate-related financial risks. This kind of investing is a critical component of a broader set of actions public pensions must take to mitigate systemic climate risk and drive real-world decarbonization. The report is the first of its kind to comprehensively assess and compare U.S. public pensions’ approaches to investing in climate solutions. Read the report: The Climate Solutions Gap: An Assessment of U.S. Public Pensions’ Investment Strategies – The report evaluated 29 U.S. public pension systems and one permanent fund, representing approximately $3.25 trillion in assets, on whether they have clear policies for directing capital toward credible climate solutions that reduce real-world emissions, strengthen resilience, and support a just transition. Despite growing recognition that climate change poses systemic, economy-wide risks to long-term investment returns, the analysis found that most pensions lack clear targets, credible definitions, or transparent disclosures showing how their investments help finance low-carbon and resilient infrastructure and reduce climate-related financial risks.

KEY FINDINGS – Only 4 of the 30 pensions assessed earned a “strong” score for their climate-solutions investing strategy: the Minnesota State Board of Investment, three New York City funds overseen by the City Comptroller (NYCERS, BERS, and TRS), the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. The report highlights wide variations and persistent gaps in how U.S. public pensions approach climate-solutions investing…”