The Office of Financial Research (OFR) recently announced the launch of a new tool that seeks to aid financial regulators with regard to climate-risk assessments.
The Climate Data and Analytics Hub is a collaborative environment established to improve user access to public climate and public financial data, high-performance computing tools, as well as analytical and visualization software.
Initial access will be limited to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (FRB) and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY). The goal is to expand access to all Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) member agencies.
“Financial regulators need both financial and non-financial data, as well as high-powered computing capabilities, to effectively research climate-related financial risks,” OFR Acting Director James Martin said. “The OFR is proud to partner with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to help assess and identify climate-related financial risks to financial stability.”
The resource enables data integration across the federal government for a more detailed view of the relationship between climate change and financial stability risk.
“Delivering a clearer assessment of financial risks due to climate change requires both climate data and financial data – information that is often siloed – and the ability to integrate these data,” Treasury Department Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang said. “The Office of Financial Research is taking an important step toward enabling policymakers to better understand and address risks to the financial system posed by climate change.”
Liang said by providing a shared database of both climate data and financial data and high-powered computing tools, the climate hub would aid in streamlining regulators’ access to critical information.