November 13, 2020
Ms. Eastwood spoke on the recent report Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, issued by a subcommittee of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee, to which she contributed.
On November 10, Willkie partner Athena Eastwood moderated a panel as part of FIA’s 36th Annual Futures & Options Expo. The panel was entitled “Managing the Risk of Climate Change: The Role of Markets” and featured Rostin Behnam, Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with senior executives from ABN AMRO Clearing, Morgan Stanley and Incubex.
Ms. Eastwood moderated the panelists in a discussion about markets in general and derivatives in particular in supporting changing approaches to environmental issues. In her opening remarks, she observed that there has been a lot of recent attention on the dangers climate risk may impose on the financial system, noting that central banks have been increasingly vocal that a series of disruptive weather events could lead to the next systemic financial crisis.
Additionally, Ms. Eastwood highlighted the recent report titled Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, which was issued by a subcommittee of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC), of which she is a member. She also spoke on the FIA’s policy paper How Derivative Markets are Helping the World Fight Climate Change, which focuses on the products and platforms that can help the world transition to a low carbon future.
During the event, panelists continued the conversation on the many unprecedented major weather events that have occurred recently, such as the West Coast wildfires and Gulf Coast storms. They discussed the importance of considering the impact of such events going forward and highlighted other subjects related to the future of a world at odds with climate change, such as commitment of financial institutions to carbon neutrality and the challenges associated with standardization and harmonization in climate-related metrics among companies.
FIA is the leading global trade organization for the futures, options and centrally cleared derivatives markets. Please click here to read a full summary of the panel from Jim Hamilton’s World of Security Regulation, a Wolters Kluwer blog.