New focus aims to strengthen real-world impact of pensions’ climate-solutions investment strategy

NEW YORK, NY — New York City Comptroller Mark Levine announced Wednesday that the Bureau of Asset Management expects to present a total of $5 billion in new private-market climate investment opportunities to the boards of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS), and Board of Education Retirement System (BERS), subject to each system’s independent review and approval.

The proposed investment opportunities would focus on areas including renewable power, grid modernization, energy storage and efficiency, clean transportation, building decarbonization, and resilient infrastructure. The initiative would contribute toward the New York City pensions’ collective goal of investing $50 billion in climate solutions by 2035.

The announcement notably distinguishes the new private-market strategy from past reported climate-solutions growth, which the Comptroller’s office said had “mostly come from the appreciation of technology stocks in the passive portfolios.” The new focus is intended to increase the strategy’s real-world impact by creating more opportunities to deploy capital toward climate solutions.

In response, Ben Cushing, Director of the Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance Campaign, issued the following statement:

“New York City’s pensions have established some of the country’s most significant commitments to investing in climate solutions. This proposal is an important step toward more intentional implementation of those commitments by directing greater attention toward investments that can help drive the real-economy transition.

“As these opportunities are advanced, strong eligibility standards, safeguards, and transparent reporting will be critical to ensuring that capital is directed toward credible climate solutions with strong real-world benefits.

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