Photo: Towfiqu Barbhuiya / Unsplash
Legislators in the US state of Oregon have approved a bill that directs the state treasurer to address how climate change threatens the pension savings of public workers and build a more climate-resilient retirement fund.
The move comes despite an announcement by the administration of US president Donald Trump that it plans to overturn a rule that allows pension funds to consider ESG factors when making investment decisions and exercising shareholder voting rights.
In Oregon, the bipartisan climate law encourages the state treasury to support the transition to a cleaner energy future in its management of about $101bn in the public employee pension fund.
“The climate resilience investment act protects employee retirement funds by enabling Treasury’s investments to take full advantage of the opportunities the clean energy transition creates,” said state treasurer Elizabeth Steiner.
The legislation also directs the treasury to produce regular reports to the legislature and it confirms its fiduciary responsibility to retirees.
Pressure is mounting on pension funds to take more account of climate change risks, with campaigners calling on trustees to make sustainable investment decisions and use their voting power to push companies they invest in to go green.
“The world is moving toward a carbon-free future and it’s not turning back. That creates opportunities for innovation and growth for companies and investors who are able to adapt,” said Tim Miller, director of Oregon Business for Climate.
US and Canadian pension fund returns could fall up to 50% by 2040 if predictions for the worst global warming materialise and if the current approach to climate policy doesn’t change, according to analysis by Ortec Finance, technology and risk consultants for financial institutions.
The Sierra Club said it welcomed the bill for drawing attention to the ways climate change will damage the economy and threaten retirement savings.
“We applaud Oregon’s legislators for passing this clear mandate to our state’s public pension to implement its sustainable investing plan. Oregon’s communities are already preparing for and responding to extreme wildfires – a clear signal of the worsening climate crisis,” said Damon Motz-Story, director of the group’s Oregon chapter.
A Sierra Club report published in February ranked the Oregon state pension fund sixth out of 32 US state pension funds in terms of its response to the climate crisis.
The Sierra Club also noted that in 2024 Oregon’s state pension fund joined peers, including in New York City, New York State, and California (CalPERS and CalSTRS), in passing sustainable investing plans for their state pensions, but it said this was the first time one of those plans has received the backing of a state legislature.
Two bills reintroduced in New York’s senate would require climate disclosure rules similar to those adopted by California in 2023, while a bill requiring greenhouse gas emissions disclosures was introduced in Colorado in January.
This page was last updated June 20, 2025
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Emma Thomasson is a British journalist, consultant and trainer based in Berlin. She is an expert in economics, politics, business and technology. She previously worked for Reuters as a correspondent and bureau chief in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK.
