I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8760 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 

the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue an annual report 

to the Congress projecting and accounting for the economic costs directly 

and indirectly caused by the impacts of climate change, and to require 

the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to establish a Federal 

Advisory Panel on the Economics of Climate Change, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition 

to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System and the Securities and Exchange Commission 

to issue an annual report to the Congress projecting 

and accounting for the economic costs directly and indirectly caused by the impacts of climate change, and 

to require the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 

Board to establish a Federal Advisory Panel on the 

Economics of Climate Change, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restructuring Environ3 mentally Sound Pensions in Order to Negate Disaster Act 

4 of 2020’’ or the ‘‘RESPOND Act of 2020’’. 

5 SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMIC COST REPORT. 

6 The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys7 tem and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall, 

8 jointly, issue an annual report to the Congress projecting 

9 and accounting for the economic costs directly and indi10 rectly caused by the impacts of climate change, including 

11 the labor market, economic growth, property and land 

12 damage from rising sea levels and extreme weather, nat13 ural disaster relief and mitigation, public health, and other 

14 broad areas of the economy. 

15 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS OF 

16 CLIMATE CHANGE. 

17 Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS

20 OF CLIMATE CHANGE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Board shall estab22 lish a panel to be known as the ‘Federal Advisory 

23 Panel on the Economics of Climate Change’ (the 

24 ‘Advisory Panel’). 

25 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Panel 

2 shall consist of 9 members, appointed by the 

3 Board as follows: 

4 ‘‘(i) Three members shall be chosen 

5 from among persons generally recognized 

6 for their impartiality, knowledge, and expe7 rience in the field of labor relations and 

8 pay policy. 

9 ‘‘(ii) Six members shall be chosen 

10 from among persons with expertise in 

11 local, national, or transnational financing 

12 that seeks to support mitigation and adap13 tation actions to combat climate change. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 3 

15 members of the Advisory Panel may represent 

16 a single employee organization, council, federa17 tion, alliance, association, or affiliation of em18 ployee organizations. 

19 ‘‘(C) CHAIR.—The Board shall appoint one 

20 member of the Advisory Panel appointed pursu21 ant to subparagraph (A)(i) to serve as the 

22 Chair of the Advisory Panel. 

23 ‘‘(D) COMPENSATION.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Members of the 

25 Advisory Council may not receive pay by 


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1 reason of their service on the Advisory 

2 Council, nor shall members who are not 

3 otherwise employees of the United States 

4 be considered employees by reason of any 

5 such service. 

6 ‘‘(ii) EXPENSES.—Notwithstanding 

7 clause (i) members of the Advisory Panel 

8 appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) 

9 may be paid expenses in accordance with 

10 section 5703. 

11 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) advise the Board on how, consistent 

13 with their fiduciary duties, the Board can fur14 ther decarbonize their portfolio; 

15 ‘‘(B) identify possible investment opportu16 nities in clean and renewable energy and other 

17 emerging industries that would maximize re18 turns; 

19 ‘‘(C) produce a comparative analysis com20 paring the fiduciary efficacy and responsibility 

21 of existing investment practices of the Board 

22 with decarbonized portfolio alternatives; and 

23 ‘‘(D) advise the Board on how to identify, 

24 assess, and manage the investment risks and 


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1 opportunities of climate change and prepare for 

2 a transition to a low-carbon economy. 

3 ‘‘(4) EXAMINATION.—In carrying out the duties 

4 described under paragraph (3), the Advisory Panel 

5 shall examine the following, and issue a report to the 

6 Board on the results of such examination: 

7 ‘‘(A) Economic and policy challenges fac8 ing the fossil fuel industry over the short, me9 dium, and long term. 

10 ‘‘(B) Quantitative and qualitative analysis 

11 and modeling of the economic impact of climate 

12 change on Federal employee retirement pro13 grams (e.g., diversification of investments, risk 

14 tolerance, future economic and workforce 

15 trends, new opportunities, expected losses, and 

16 returns). 

17 ‘‘(C) The current state of, and outlook for, 

18 clean energy, including possible investment op19 portunities. 

20 ‘‘(D) Experience (including performance 

21 analysis) of other pension funds and investors 

22 which have undertaken concerted de-carbon23 ization efforts or strategic divestment from fos24 sil fuel holdings in order to maximize the effiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Nov 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8760.IH H8760

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1 cacy and stability of their assets while mini2 mizing their climate-related risk exposure. 

3 ‘‘(E) Strategic options to address climate4 related investment risks through further de-car5 bonization, including— 

6 ‘‘(i) transitioning to a low-carbon or 

7 carbon-free benchmark index for all public 

8 equities; 

9 ‘‘(ii) divesting from significant fossil 

10 fuel holdings that are not responsible fidu11 ciary investments for beneficiaries; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) exploring the use of organiza13 tions to de-risk investments in carbon de14 pendent funds. 

15 ‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH FEMA.—The Advi16 sory Panel shall, in preparing the report described 

17 under paragraph (4), consult with the Federal 

18 Emergency Management Agency on any matters 

19 within the Agency’s jurisdiction. 

20 ‘‘(6) RESULTS OF EXAMINATION.—If the 

21 Board, after examining the report issued by the Ad22 visory Panel under paragraph (4), determines that 

23 pension yields would be both financially profitable 

24 and still consistent with the Board’s fiduciary duties 

25 if low-carbon investment strategies were impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Nov 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8760.IH H8760

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1 mented, the Board shall set a plan in place to tran2 sition the Board’s investment practices accord3 ingly.’’. 

Æ 


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