Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee delivered the following opening statement at a roundtable she convened entitled, “Combatting the MAGA Attack: Protecting Environmental, Social, and Governance Policy in Financial Services”

Good afternoon, thank you for joining this Roundtable on environmental, social, and governance – or ESG - investing. Before I begin, I would like to remind Members and our panel that today’s roundtable is being live streamed and recorded. 

This month, Republicans have launched a full-scale campaign against ESG. I convened today’s roundtable to help set the record straight on the false narratives being promoted by extreme MAGA Republicans, and to make clear why ESG disclosures are integral not only to financial performance, but the long-term global economy at large.

ESG metrics, which include climate and human capital disclosures, are increasingly important to investors. The Republican culture war campaign combatting ESG and “woke-ism” comes at a time when climate change is becoming impossible to ignore. I will not mince words, climate change poses a fundamental threat to America’s financial eco-system, its businesses, and to the global economy. It is reckless to insist that climate change is not real and that corporations should not consider the real financial risks associated with climate change.  

Republican attacks on ESG are also a direct assault on diversity and inclusion efforts within our nation’s financial services industry, and if successful, will cause permanent damage to our nation’s economy. I am very concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action is emboldening extreme MAGA Republicans who are carrying out this anti-ESG campaign, which we all know is really about pushing policies that are anti-women, anti-black, anti-LGBTQ+, and the list goes on.

This anti-ESG campaign is not just blind to the science behind climate change, it is also blind to the research clearly demonstrating how ESG factors are relevant to the long-term profitability of corporations, including research our Committee identified showing that companies that are more diverse are more profitable.

To help us discuss these issues in more depth, I am very pleased to be joined by several experts. I will invite each of them to share about 3 to 4 minutes of opening comments, and then we will open it up to Member questions.

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