The Financial Stability Oversight Council warned about the risk climate change-driven extreme weather poses to the financial system for the first time in its annual report to Congress on Friday. “Increased frequency and severity of acute physical risk events and longer-term chronic phenomena associated with climate change are expected to lead to increased economic and financial costs,” the report stated. The council, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 to address gaps in coordination among financial regulators after the 2008 financial crisis, is chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and includes the heads of other regulatory agencies, though it has not authority to directly issue regulations. The report echoes recommendations from a similar report from October of this year, including improving data collection to assess climate risk and creating an inter-agency group to monitor the threats. The recommendations did not go as far as some advocates have called for, like limiting financing for fossil fuel companies. (New York Times $, Newsweek, Reuters $)
