#26 - Regulating Finance to Avert Climate Disaster with Colleen Orr & Graham Steele

In this episode, the third (and final) in our miniseries on climate finance, we speak with Colleen Orr and Graham Steele about how regulators in the United States can wield financial tools and soft power to set public- and private-sector organizations on a more climate-smart path.

We discuss:

- Theories of change for regulators in climate finance
- How the private and public sector can work together
- How the SEC, Treasury Dept, and other governmental bodies are setting their climate finance agenda
- The Fed’s robust financial tools are somewhat wasted by how it uses them narrowly, in ways that are market-neutral, for example
- Economic reasons why younger generations are much more drawn to sustainable finance
- The ways in which the US and EU differ in regulatory approaches to banks and investors
- The role of anti-trust legislation in climate finance regulation
- Reasons for optimism about climate finance providing effective solutions to the climate crisis

Colleen Orr is a Senior US Policy Analyst for the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. In her role as Senior Policy Analyst, Colleen advocates for corporate disclosure of environmental, social, and governance factors to improve capital markets; analyzes and prepares comments and briefings on US and global policy regulations; and fosters relationships with the PRI’s global signatory base, US policymakers, regulators, and advocacy organizations to promote the PRI’s policy priorities.

Graham Steele is the director of the Corporations and Society Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to joining Stanford GSB, Graham was a member of the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. From 2015 to 2017, Graham was the Minority Chief Counsel for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs.