"Fed Rescinds Mandate That Banks Plan for Climate Risks"

"Financial regulators said the Biden-era policy was superfluous. Democrats said it protected financial stability in an era of unpredictable weather."

"Federal regulators have rescinded a requirement that the nation’s largest financial institutions factor climate risks into their long-term planning, a policy dating from the Biden administration that Federal Reserve Board staff called “distracting” and “not necessary” and that Republicans have labeled overreach.

The Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Thursday that existing requirements that banks “consider and appropriately address all material financial risks” were sufficient to protect the financial system from the shocks of intensifying heat waves, droughts, storms and floods.

It was the latest erasure of climate change from federal policy as the Trump administration seeks to boost fossil fuel industries and domestic energy production. The F.D.I.C. board is composed of Trump appointees, including Russell Vought, the White House budget director, who has attacked concerns about climate change."

Scott Dance and Stacy Cowley report for the New York Times October 17, 2025.

Source: NYTimes, 10/21/2025