Connecticut Passes the First Climate-Related Risk Legislation in the United States

The Connecticut General Assembly passed climate-related risk legislation on June 17, 2021 in a section of its state budget implementation bill, making this legislation the first climate-related risk legislation in the United States. SB 1202 Section 346 incorporates provisions of SB 1047, a bill introduced by the Insurance Committee and Real Estate Committee.

Under the Section 346 of SB 1202, Connecticut’s insurance commissioner must submit a report on its progress toward addressing climate risks to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly. Reporting areas include, but are not limited to, risk based capital requirements, regular supervisory examinations, and risk and solvency assessments. Additionally, the report will incorporate Connecticut’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction levels, as set forth in Section 22a-220a of Connecticut’s general statutes. Section 346 also requires the report to address the impact of critical climate risks, like the thermal coal, tar sands and Arctic oil and gas and include supervisory and regulatory actions that bolster the resilience of insurers to climate change’s physical impacts. The reporting requirement begins on April 1, 2022 and will continue biennially until April 1, 2032.

Section 346 can be found on the Connecticut General Assembly website at https://www.cga.ct.gov/2021/TOB/S/PDF/2021SB-01202-R00-SB.PDF.

For a summary on SB 1047, click here.

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