The American Sustainable Business Network (ASBN) applauds President Biden’s veto of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would nullify the Department of Labor’s final ruling, which allows ERISA fiduciaries to consider financially relevant ESG factors on behalf of retirement savers.
“It is essential that employees are given better investment options when it comes to their finances and retirement so they can select the investments that are most suitable for themselves and their personal choices,” say David Levine and Jeffrey Hollender, Co-Founders of the American Sustainable Business Network.
ASBN was a strong proponent of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Final Rule of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which empowered plan fiduciaries to safeguard the savings of America’s workers by clarifying that fiduciaries may consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when making investment decisions. This also includes exercising shareholder rights, such as voting on shareholder resolutions and board nominations.
Since 2020, ASBN and partners have supported the Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights rule, which allows the federal government to implement policies that help safeguard the financial security of America’s families, businesses, and workers. This rule protects retirement savings and pensions from climate-related financial risks that could threaten long-term economic security.
Extreme weather, wage inequalities, social injustice, and pollution continue to shape business operations and the economy. These factors are now part of mainstream conversations for the American people. For the economy to grow and adapt to the ongoing impacts of climate change, these elements must be taken into account.
The politicization of environmental, social, and governance factors is an unfortunate but expected byproduct of today’s political climate. ASBN urges elected officials on both sides of the aisle to work toward the common goal of financial health and security for American workers and their retirement savings. The Department of Labor’s common-sense approach to this rule rightly allows fiduciaries to consider relevant ESG factors, enabling them to uphold their duties to their clients.
“Companies that integrate a concern for the environment and social justice into their actions should be applauded. We are outraged by this attempt to politicize a non-partisan movement that has the support of a vast majority of Americans. Corporations are finally starting to take the interests of the community into account, and in order to score cheap political points, politicians are harming their own constituents. As two of the pioneers of socially responsible business, we are outraged and applaud President Biden’s decision to exercise his executive privilege and veto the CRA.” – Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Founders of Ben & Jerry’s
About ASBN
The American Sustainable Business Network partners with business organizations and companies to advocate for solutions and policies that support an equitable, sustainable stakeholder economy. ASBN is a multi-issue business organization advocating on behalf of all sectors, sizes, and geographies of industry. ASBN and its association members collectively represent over 250,000 businesses across its networks. ASBN is coalition-focused in its approach to solving systemic issues in climate and energy, infrastructure, and the circular economy while promoting an inclusive, just stakeholder economy. ASBN is changing the rules by which business is done so it benefits all people and the environment.
