Heather McTeer Toney, Climate Justice Liaison for the Environmental Defense Fund and Senior Advisor to Moms Clean Air Force, testified in a hearing on corporate climate risk held by the House Financial Services Committee. A leading voice on environmental policy and advocacy, she has formerly served as a Regional Administrator for the EPA during the Obama administration and the mayor of Greenville, Mississippi.
McTeer Toney’s testimony detailed how corporations’ failure to disclose the risks of climate change has serious impacts on investors, markets, and communities; particularly black, brown and marginalized communities. Included with her submitted testimony is our report with the Environmental Defense Fund on how the Securities and Exchange Commission can issue new, mandatory disclosure rules focused on climate risk. She also cites our report on improving environmental justice analysis, which explains that the proper consideration of EJ concerns requires the consideration of climate change-related impacts.
The testimony draws attention, at a critical time, to the substantial overlap between climate-related financial risk and environmental justice. You can watch a recording of McTeer Toney’s oral testimony here.