“The IPCC’s report released earlier this week makes clear human action is increasing the threat posed by climate change. While the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure legislation includes investments for electric vehicle and grid infrastructure, and climate resiliency investments, we must go further, faster.
“To effectively mitigate the worst possible outcomes from climate change, every policy and every investment must be tied to climate action and long-term sustainability goals. Just as the PRI’s principles call on signatories to integrate climate and ESG factors into every level of investment decision-making, so too must policymakers integrate climate action across every level of government.
“In the coming weeks, the Senate and Congress have another opportunity to take necessary action and integrate climate efforts across budget reconciliation legislation. It is also clear that to achieve the U.S.’s NDC in line with the Paris Agreement, Congress must enact transformational policies, including a clean energy standard to rapidly decarbonize the electricity sector and electrify the transportation industry with clean power. The Biden administration has the further obligation to implement any legislation in the most climate friendly and sustainable way possible at every level of the investment process- from design to procurement to construction, maintenance and end-of-life.
“IPCC makes clear that every community in every state will feel the impact of climate change, unless Congress takes significant steps this fall to move the U.S. toward net zero.”
