The Federal Reserve board of governors announced Tuesday it is a member of the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System.
The Fed board began participating in NGFS discussions and activities more than a year ago, it said in a statement.
With more than 80 members, the NGFS brings central banks and supervisory authorities from around the world together to support the exchange of ideas, research and best practices on the development of environmental and climate risk management for the financial sector.
"As we develop our understanding of how best to assess the impact of climate change on the financial system, we look forward to continuing and deepening our discussions with our NGFS colleagues from around the world," said Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome H. Powell in a statement.
The Fed in its semiannual Financial Stability Report released in November recognized climate change as a key risk to U.S. financial stability.
The Fed is acknowledging its role in addressing the systemic risk of climate change and pledging much needed leadership in partnership with its global peers, according to a separate statement from Steven M. Rothstein, managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, a part of Ceres, a non-profit sustainability organization.
"Given that it is responsible for the safety and security of the world's largest economy, we hope that (the Fed) will not only catch up with central banks around the world, but, in time, lead the way in addressing systemic financial risk," Mr. Rothstein said. "Our economy deserves no less."
