Sierra Club Joins 50+ Groups Calling for Stronger Financial Regulation

Ginny Roscamp, Senior Press Secretary, Federal Communications, Sierra Club, [email protected]

Over 50 climate finance groups from around the world - including Sierra Club, WWF, Share Action UK, Environmental Defence Canada, Finance Watch, ACCR, and Reclaim Finance - have come together to issue a joint letter to global financial system regulators and supervisors. It marks the ten-year anniversary of then-Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney's landmark "Tragedy of the Horizon" speechat Lloyd's of London.

• Read the letter: tragedyofthehorizon.org

"Ten years ago, the financial sector was warned. It listened, but it did not act decisively. Today, the risks are higher, the stakes greater, and the time shorter. The horizon is no longer theoretical. The financial system is facing instability and potential collapse. This is the decade of consequence. The next ten years must look much different than the last," reads the letter.

Delivered in 2015, the "Tragedy of the Horizon" speech warned that climate change posed an existential threat to financial stability. It spurred regulators, central banks, and policymakers into action - at least in theory.

A decade on, experts are taking stock:

• Have the proposed solutions worked?
• What progress has actually been made?
• And what must change now to maintain both climate and financial system stability?

The groups' statement argues that voluntary climate risk disclosures have fallen short, and that regulatory intervention is now urgently needed. Financial systems must ensure that climate risks are properly priced into high-emissions activities - and that climate solutions receive the incentives they deserve to support environmental and economic stability.

The letter's release comes at a moment of sharp contrast: Lloyd's of London - where Carney delivered the original speech - has just announcedit will not discourage insurance coverage for new coal and fossil fuel projects.