As climate risk becomes undeniable financial risk, the challenge facing public finance is no longer awareness, but action at scale. In this letter, CFA’s Executive Director outlines how Climate Finance Action is focusing its 2026 work on modernizing fiduciary duty, empowering beneficiaries, and scaling a just transition rooted in high-quality jobs and resilient communities.

CFA’s work was recently featured in Sustainable Views, which examined how public pension funds are navigating climate risk, governance reform, and in-state investment opportunities. The excerpt highlights key insights from CFA Executive Director, Mary Cerulli.

State pension funds have the capital to secure retirements while strengthening local economies and advancing climate resilience, yet many U.S. funds underinvest in opportunities within their own states. Drawing from Unlocking State Power: Overcoming Barriers to In-State Climate Investment for Pension Funds, this blog explains how governance gaps, rigid asset frameworks, and cultural inertia—not a lack of viable projects—are the real barriers.

Learn how public pensions can manage climate risk and opportunity in private markets with responsible stewardship in mind.

Over five years, Climate Finance Action has helped trustees, union leaders, and public financial officials better understand and act on climate risk within public pension systems. By translating complex financial and climate concepts into practical tools, building trusted partnerships, and supporting policy and governance reforms, CFA is strengthening long-term retirement security while advancing climate-resilient investment practices.

Public pension funds face systemic risks like climate change, inequality, and market instability that cannot be diversified away. This explainer uses the Prisoner’s Dilemma to show how long-term investors can shift outcomes through cooperation, engagement, proxy voting, and shared governance strategies that protect retirement security and market stability.

This blog breaks down the two essential strategies every climate-resilient pension needs: mitigation and adaptation. These strategies help pension funds protect workers’ retirement security, reduce systemic financial risk, and invest in a more stable, resilient future.

In this new resource, Managing Climate Risk and Opportunity in Private Market Investments, Climate Finance Action offers a clear, practical guide to understanding how climate and labor risks show up in private markets, what responsible stewardship looks like, and how pension stakeholders can strengthen oversight, accountability, and long-term resilience.

Mitigation means reducing or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, while adaptation is about managing the impacts of climate change.

Double materiality looks at the financial risk to the company and the company’s impact on the people and planet. This is critical for pension funds and long-term investors.

If you have a public pension, you already have a voice — the question is, how do you use it? Here are three ways to engage the trustees who oversee your retirement fund.

If you’ve ever played a game where everyone loses because no one was willing to take the first risk, you already understand the Prisoner’s Dilemma. It’s one of the simplest and most powerful concepts in economics and game theory.

Your pension is a powerful lever for change. Pension Power is the collective influence of all our retirement savings. We're talking about nearly $6 trillion. Keep reading to learn more.

Shareholder power lets pension funds vote on corporate policies, elect board members, and push for more responsible business practices. It’s one of the strongest tools workers have to ensure the companies they’re invested in align with their long-term interests.

In a guest post on ImpactAlpha, CFA Founder and Executive Director Mary Cerulli shares a primer for proxy voters wrapping their heads around complicated governance proposals.

Discover how the Prisoner’s Dilemma explains why shared responsibility among public pension funds is key to addressing systemic risks like climate change. This blog explores how informed stewardship can turn shared challenges into shared progress.

Alpha and beta describe different forces that shape investment performance. One is about skill or the ability to make smart choices that add extra value. The other is about conditions or how the overall market behaves and how much a portfolio moves in response to these conditions. Both help pension trustees and members make sense of where returns come from and how to build long-term stability.

Learn how to speak up at pension board meetings and advocate for responsible climate risk management. This step-by-step guide helps pension members and trustees prepare effective testimony, highlight key climate risks, and protect long-term retirement security.

While many funds have made progress, there remain critical areas where improvements in stewardship and corporate engagement can deliver greater effectiveness and better align with investment principles and risk management goals.

When we talk about investing, two major categories often come up: private and public markets. While they both play critical roles in how capital flows and how companies grow, they operate in fundamentally different ways. Understanding the differences between the two and their impact on the global economy, particularly in terms of risks and opportunities, is crucial, especially for long-term investors such as pension funds.