Photo: Jeff Burak / Unsplash
New York City comptroller says the city’s pension funds should divest from BlackRock over its climate record, while European supervisors propose a natural catastrophe risk tool for property owners, Brunei establishes a green finance roadmap, and multilateral development banks unveil harmonised nature finance tracking standards.
Comptroller urges NYC pension boards to drop BlackRock over climate record
Outgoing New York City comptroller Brad Lander has recommended that city employee pension funds terminate US$42.3bn in combined BlackRock mandates and end contracts with Fidelity and PanAgora. His recommendation follows a comprehensive evaluation of 49 public market managers’ decarbonisation strategies. These three firms failed to align with the city’s net-zero implementation plans.
“The systemic risk of the climate crisis threatens the long-term value of New York City’s pension funds. Our net zero plan is a core part of our fiduciary duty to protect these assets,” said Lander, whose term ends on 31 December.
Following pressure from the Trump administration, BlackRock withdrew from the Network for Net Zero Asset Managers. It also ceased engagement on ESG disclosures with US companies in its portfolio, a move Lander characterised this as an “abdication of financial duty.” Meanwhile, Fidelity applies climate engagement restrictions to both US and non-US portfolio companies, even when financially material.
Richard Brooks, climate finance director at Stand.earth, told Reuters: “Now, it is critical that the pension trustees, including the mayor’s appointees, turn the recommendation into real action.” It remains to be seen if the New York pension funds, which traditionally take cues from the comptroller’s office, will take up Lander’s recommendations before the he leaves office at the end of the month.
EIOPA proposes EU-wide natural catastrophe risk tool to close insurance protection gap
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has proposed an EU-wide digital tool enabling property owners to assess exposure to natural catastrophe risks including floods, storms, earthquakes, and wildfires.
The initiative, known as Protect, seeks to address a critical gap: rising climate losses are threatening property insurance availability and affordability across Europe. EIOPA’s analysis of 77 existing risk awareness tools revealed that most fall short of providing actionable prevention recommendations and lack consistent data quality, geographic granularity or user-friendliness across jurisdictions.
EIOPA states that property insurance “will likely face higher premium levels over time due to climate change” and risks becoming “unaffordable or even unavailable” without enhanced prevention and transparency.
Protect will deliver property-specific risk scores based on harmonised hazard data across EU member states, combining frequency and intensity assessments. Critically, the tool will incorporate tailored prevention guidance, insurance literacy information on coverage gaps and national catastrophe schemes, and quantified benefits of mitigation measures on premiums, elements that most existing tools neglect.
Brunei’s sustainable finance roadmap positions Asean as regional standard-setter
Brunei Darussalam Central Bank (BDCB) has officially launched its sustainable finance roadmap. The comprehensive framework guides financial sector adoption of sustainable finance practices encompassing climate adaptation and mitigation.
The roadmap pursues two overarching objectives: supporting Brunei’s national climate change policy, economic and financial sector blueprints; and strengthening the sector’s capacity to address sustainability-related risks.
Abdul Manaf Metussin, primary resources minister and BDCB board chair, highlighted the imperative of integrating ESG considerations throughout Brunei’s financial architecture. Specifically, he underscored “the strong potential” for Islamic sustainable finance, “guided by Maqasid Al-Syariah” principles. He called upon industry participants to “strengthen sustainability strategies, enhance transparency, and collaborate closely with the government and development partners.”
As chair of the Asean Taxonomy Board since 2021, the central bank has steered the taxonomy through four iterations. This taxonomy has become integral to steering sustainable investments, strengthening market confidence, and supporting the region’s transition toward resilience.
NGFS publishes updated scenario analysis guidance emphasising near-term financial risks
The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) has released a substantially revised guide on climate scenario analysis for central banks and financial supervisors. The updated edition emphasises new best practices in scenario design, data and modelling, and introduces a notable shift towards its recently released short-term scenarios to assess near-term financial risks arising from climate change and evolving policy developments.
Livio Stracca, chair of the group’s scenario workstream and deputy director general of financial stability at the European Central Bank, said the framework provides a “comprehensive and practical roadmap to support the integration of NGFS climate scenarios into forward-looking risk assessments across the financial sector”.
Meanwhile, a scientific paper containing climate data which was used by the NGFS in its long-term scenarios has been withdrawn. Inaccuracies were found in the underlying data of a paper on the economic impacts of climate change, and the authors are planning to submit a revised version.
In a statement, the NGFS said its scenarios “are not forecasts, but are accessible tools to illustrate plausible pathways’, and that an updated methodology will be used for the next iteration of its long-term scenarios due for publication at the end of 2026.
Multilateral development banks establish unified nature finance tracking framework
A group of multilateral development banks (MDBs) have updated their common principles for tracking nature finance alongside the release of a new common nature finance taxonomy. These standardised definitions and methodologies enable more consistent identification and measurement of nature finance by the ten participating banks.
Both frameworks support implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted by 188 countries in 2022, which calls for halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 and achieving full recovery by 2050.
The taxonomy provides a reference list of eligible nature finance activities across sectors and cross-cutting themes. The principles apply across investment loans, policy-based financing, equity investments, grants, technical assistance, guarantees, and credit lines. Individual MDBs will also develop supplementary technical guidance, with emerging practices informing future revisions.
Research highlights
Just Energy Transition Partnership grants and country platforms: lessons from Indonesia and South Africa
Just Transition Finance Lab
This report on Just Energy Transition Partnerships in Indonesia and South Africa reveals that without clear frameworks, JETP grants flow towards easy-to-initiate activities while overlooking the social dimension critical for political durability. The report recommends government-led frameworks specifying grant functions, time-bound delivery schedules tied to observable milestones, and phased integration into domestic budgets to ensure institutional continuity beyond donor cycles.
The climate shocks and consumption habits that are driving the UK’s food inflation higher than Europe’s
Centre for Economic Transformation Expertise (CETEx)
UK food inflation exceeds the eurozone’s primarily due to climate exposure and consumption patterns, not labour costs, according to new research from CETEx’s David Barmes. Chocolate, sugar and bakery products – weighted more heavily in British baskets – account for 42% of the gap. This analysis, developed in partnership with Dr Swati Dhingra, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, demonstrates three items alone drive this divergence, as climate-driven commodity shocks combined with Britain’s particular food habits explain the persistent inflation differential.
This page was last updated December 9, 2025
Written by
Ike Walker, a Green Central Banking contributor since 2023, has a decade's experience in research writing. An Utrecht-based scholar, Ingrid specialises in transformative justice, green finance, law and systems change. They are an Utrecht University's Bright Minds scholar and previously worked for Cambridge University and various justice-based NGOs.
