Member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Lael Brainard (pictured) stated on Thursday the central bank would focus on “sustainable” “pro-growth, pro-job” policies to help the economy recover from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Those are the kinds of priorities that square very well with our overall framework, which is to ensure the economy is at maximum employment in a sustainable way,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Brainard called for reforms to the system that would add “standardized, reliable, and mandatory disclosures” on how companies are preparing to face the impact of climate change. The Federal Reserve’s emerging focus on climate change won’t lessen its focus on achieving maximum employment, Fed Governor Lael Brainard said on Thursday in response to questions about whether a transition away from carbon-based fuel will kill jobs. The Fed will be focused on long-term risks of climate change but also how the transition to a less carbon-dependent economy “might affect our economic growth over the medium to long term,” Brainard said in comments to an Institute of International Finance summit on climate change. “The focus on investments in a sustainable economy that are pro-growth, that are pro-jobs, those are the kinds of priorities that square very well with our overall framework, which is to ensure the economy is at maximum employment in a sustainable way,” she said. Her remarks were focused on the need for financial firms and their supervisors, including at the Fed, to take more explicit account of the risks climate changes poses to industry business plans and portfolios, and to invest in the complex models and data analysis needed to do so.