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illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on TIME or enjoy below:
🗞️ Driving the news: President Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) chief and appointment of a partisan successor raises broader questions about the role of trusted, universally accepted data in financial markets
• For decades, BLS numbers on jobs, inflation, and productivity have provided a shared language for investors, CEOs, and policymakers
• In climate finance, no equivalent institution exists: risk from extreme weather, supply chains, and productivity loss is widely acknowledged but lacks a standardized, authoritative metric
🔭 The context: U.S. agencies like NOAA and the National Climate Assessment have historically supplied key data but now face budget cuts or suspension
• Private initiatives—like the TCFD framework and climate-risk modeling firms—try to fill the gap, but standards vary, analysis is fragmented, and access is uneven
• Large firms can afford proprietary data, but many market participants (and even senior executives) lack the literacy to act on it
🌍 Why it matters for the planet:
• Without reliable, universally trusted climate risk data, markets cannot price climate threats with the urgency or accuracy they require
• This mispricing delays capital flows into resilience and decarbonization, leaving economies exposed to shocks and households vulnerable to rising costs
⏭️ What’s next: A unified climate risk authority akin to the BLS is unlikely under current U.S. leadership, where climate science is increasingly challenged
• As climate damages escalate, the need for transparent, consistent, and universally accessible data will become unavoidable for investors and policymakers alike
Interested in how companies are shaping our sustainable future? See on illuminem’s Data Hub™ the transparent sustainability performance, emissions, and climate targets of thousands of businesses worldwide.
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