Sierra Club Applauds NYC Pensions for Continued Climate Progress, Calls for Stronger Implementation

NEW YORK - The Sierra Club applauds New York City Comptroller Mark Levine and trustees of three of NYC's public pension systems for releasing new climate reports showing continued progress toward their net-zero by 2040 goals.

The reports from NYCERS , TRS , and BERS affirm the pension systems as national leaders in addressing climate-related financial risk, including through progress on emissions-reduction targets, climate-solutions investments, asset manager expectations, and engagement with high-emitting companies.

"New York City's pensions continue to demonstrate real leadership on climate, including through continued progress toward their interim targets. We applaud that progress and encourage Comptroller Levine to build on it by strengthening how climate-solutions investments are defined, reported, and directed toward real-economy emissions reductions. As the pensions acknowledge, the next phase should focus on investments with the greatest effect on emissions reductions while providing strong risk-adjusted returns. Sharpening the focus on how capital allocation drives climate-risk reduction will be key to sustaining their leadership and setting a strong example for their peers," said Jessye Waxman, Campaign Advisor on Sierra Club's Sustainable Finance campaign.

"Climate change is already affecting New Yorkers through extreme heat, flooding, rising costs, and growing pressure on public infrastructure. New York City's pensions have a responsibility to protect workers' retirement security and the city's long-term resilience. We welcome this continued progress and urge Comptroller Levine and pension trustees to keep strengthening the city's climate leadership by pushing utilities and other high-emitting companies to adopt credible transition plans, stopping new private-market investments in fossil fuel infrastructure, and holding asset managers that fail to present credible climate plans accountable," said Karl Palmquist, Chair of the Sierra Club's New York City Group.

The new details on climate-solutions investing are especially significant. Sierra Club's " Climate Solutions Gap " report, published in January 2026, identified the NYC pensions as among the strongest U.S. public pension systems on climate-solutions investment strategies, while underscoring the need for stronger transparency and clearer links to real-world decarbonization.

NYC's new reports point to an important next step by examining how those strategies are being implemented - including how climate-solutions investments are defined, counted, and reported. The reports acknowledge that climate-solutions definitions and reporting need to become more intentional and aligned with best practices, including through closer scrutiny of metrics that count revenue from AI and data-center companies as "climate solutions." Comptroller Levine and trustees should follow through by strengthening definitions and prioritizing investments that more clearly support real-world emissions reductions.

The reports also detail crucial ongoing engagement with portfolio companies and key sectors - particularly utilities, data center hyperscalers, and banks - to reduce climate risks. Sierra Club's " Hidden Risk in State Pensions " report, published in April 2026, recognized the NYC pensions as among the strongest public pension leaders on climate-related stewardship policies and practices. Continued engagement with high-emitting companies, especially electric utilities, is essential to ensure credible transition plans. Many major U.S. utilities are still operating coal plants and pursuing new gas expansion, major drivers of climate pollution and financial risk to long-term investors like pensions.

NYC's reports also reinforce the importance of asset owners holding asset managers accountable. NYC's pensions have set clear expectations that their managers must adopt credible climate-risk management and decarbonization strategies. BlackRock was the only asset manager serving all three pensions that remained insufficiently aligned with their net-zero expectations, and former Comptroller Brad Lander recommended that the systems put BlackRock mandates, totaling approximately $42 billion, out to bid. Sierra Club is calling on Comptroller Levine and pension trustees to follow through on that recommendation.

BACKGROUND

New York City's public pensions are the fourth largest retirement system in the U.S. Three of the city's five pension funds - NYCERS, TRS, and BERS - have adopted plans to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across their investment portfolios by 2040. The three systems adopted their Net Zero Implementation Plans in 2023, and the FY2025 reports are the third round of annual progress updates on those plans. The five pensions collectively have a goal of investing $50 billion in climate solutions by 2035; they reported reaching $17.6B as of 2025.

In February, Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford published an op-ed in Crain's New York Business urging Comptroller Levine and NYC pension trustees to continue building on the city's climate leadership by following through on key implementation priorities - including stronger asset manager accountability, continued engagement with high-emitting companies such as electric utilities, and stopping new private-market investments in fossil fuel infrastructure. The piece focused in particular on the decision facing the pension boards to follow through on former Comptroller Lander's recommendation to move funds away from BlackRock over its failure to present adequate climate plans - a step that could set an important precedent for public pensions nationwide.