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 provi-
sions 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 indi-
rectly 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Restructuring Environ-
mentally Sound Pensions in Order to Negate Disaster Act 
of 2020’’ or the ‘‘RESPOND Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMIC COST REPORT. 
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem and the Securities and Exchange Commission shall, 
jointly, issue an annual report to the Congress projecting 
and accounting for the economic costs directly and indi-
rectly caused by the impacts of climate change, including 
the labor market, economic growth, property and land 
damage from rising sea levels and extreme weather, nat-
ural disaster relief and mitigation, public health, and other 
broad areas of the economy. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS OF 
CLIMATE CHANGE. 
Section 8438 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) FEDERAL ADVISORY PANEL ON THE ECONOMICS 
OF CLIMATE CHANGE.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Board shall estab-
lish a panel to be known as the ‘Federal Advisory 
Panel on the Economics of Climate Change’ (the 
‘Advisory Panel’). 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Advisory Panel 
shall consist of 9 members, appointed by the 
Board as follows: 
‘‘(i) Three members shall be chosen 
from among persons generally recognized 
for their impartiality, knowledge, and expe-
rience in the field of labor relations and 
pay policy. 
‘‘(ii) Six members shall be chosen 
from among persons with expertise in 
local, national, or transnational financing 
that seeks to support mitigation and adap-
tation actions to combat climate change. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Not more than 3 
members of the Advisory Panel may represent 
a single employee organization, council, federa-
tion, alliance, association, or affiliation of em-
ployee organizations. 
‘‘(C) CHAIR.—The Board shall appoint one 
member of the Advisory Panel appointed pursu-
ant to subparagraph (A)(i) to serve as the 
Chair of the Advisory Panel. 
‘‘(D) COMPENSATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Members of the 
Advisory Council may not receive pay by 
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reason of their service on the Advisory 
Council, nor shall members who are not 
otherwise employees of the United States 
be considered employees by reason of any 
such service. 
‘‘(ii) 
EXPENSES.—Notwithstanding 
clause (i) members of the Advisory Panel 
appointed pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) 
may be paid expenses in accordance with 
section 5703. 
‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall— 
‘‘(A) advise the Board on how, consistent 
with their fiduciary duties, the Board can fur-
ther decarbonize their portfolio; 
‘‘(B) identify possible investment opportu-
nities in clean and renewable energy and other 
emerging industries that would maximize re-
turns; 
‘‘(C) produce a comparative analysis com-
paring the fiduciary efficacy and responsibility 
of existing investment practices of the Board 
with decarbonized portfolio alternatives; and 
‘‘(D) advise the Board on how to identify, 
assess, and manage the investment risks and 
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opportunities of climate change and prepare for 
a transition to a low-carbon economy. 
‘‘(4) EXAMINATION.—In carrying out the duties 
described under paragraph (3), the Advisory Panel 
shall examine the following, and issue a report to the 
Board on the results of such examination: 
‘‘(A) Economic and policy challenges fac-
ing the fossil fuel industry over the short, me-
dium, and long term. 
‘‘(B) Quantitative and qualitative analysis 
and modeling of the economic impact of climate 
change on Federal employee retirement pro-
grams (e.g., diversification of investments, risk 
tolerance, 
future 
economic 
and 
workforce 
trends, new opportunities, expected losses, and 
returns). 
‘‘(C) The current state of, and outlook for, 
clean energy, including possible investment op-
portunities. 
‘‘(D) Experience (including performance 
analysis) of other pension funds and investors 
which have undertaken concerted de-carbon-
ization efforts or strategic divestment from fos-
sil fuel holdings in order to maximize the effi-
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cacy and stability of their assets while mini-
mizing their climate-related risk exposure. 
‘‘(E) Strategic options to address climate- 
related investment risks through further de-car-
bonization, including— 
‘‘(i) transitioning to a low-carbon or 
carbon-free benchmark index for all public 
equities; 
‘‘(ii) divesting from significant fossil 
fuel holdings that are not responsible fidu-
ciary investments for beneficiaries; and 
‘‘(iii) exploring the use of organiza-
tions to de-risk investments in carbon de-
pendent funds. 
‘‘(5) CONSULTATION WITH FEMA.—The Advi-
sory Panel shall, in preparing the report described 
under paragraph (4), consult with the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency on any matters 
within the Agency’s jurisdiction. 
‘‘(6) 
RESULTS
OF
EXAMINATION.—If 
the 
Board, after examining the report issued by the Ad-
visory Panel under paragraph (4), determines that 
pension yields would be both financially profitable 
and still consistent with the Board’s fiduciary duties 
if low-carbon investment strategies were imple-
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mented, the Board shall set a plan in place to tran-
sition the Board’s investment practices accord-
ingly.’’. 
Æ 
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