The Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) has called on the US Congress to resist a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that looks to overturn the Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule on “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights”. The ICCR, a coalition of institutional investors collectively representing over US$4 trillion in invested capital, says the DOL’s rule recognises the importance of ESG factors for long-term investors. The centre said the rule does not require pension plans consider to ESG factors, but “simply acknowledges” that climate change and other considerations can be relevant to investment returns. The ICCR said the DOL’s rule “provides helpful clarity on how plan sponsors can factor ESG considerations into investment decisions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)”. This rule looked to amend a Trump-era DOL rule that “discouraged the practice” of ESG considerations by US retirement plans subject to ERISA. Twenty-five Republican attorneys have moved to sue over the DOL over this rule
