Our Most-Used Resources for Understanding Public Pensions, Climate Risk, and Worker Power
Over the years, Climate Finance Action has built a growing library of practical resources to help workers, union leaders, trustees, and advocates navigate the intersection of public pensions, climate risk, and responsible investing.
Whether you're preparing testimony for your pension board, learning the language of fiduciary duty, or looking for ways to connect climate resilience with retirement security, these resources are designed to make complex financial concepts more accessible and actionable.
Below are some of the guides, toolkits, and educational resources our community has returned to time and again.
White Papers & Guides
Unlocking State Power: Overcoming Barriers to In-State Climate Investment
Our flagship white paper explores why public pension funds often struggle to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure close to home, even when those investments can strengthen local economies and deliver competitive long-term returns. Learn about the institutional barriers, emerging solutions, and practical opportunities for unlocking climate-resilient investment.
Investing in Our Future: A Guide for Climate-Conscious Pension Strategies
Designed for workers, union leaders, and pension beneficiaries, this guide breaks down how public pension systems work, who makes investment decisions, and where workers can have influence. It combines foundational finance concepts with real-world examples, practical tools, and strategies for engaging pension funds on climate risk and retirement security.
Learning Tools
Financial language shouldn't be a barrier to participation. This glossary translates common pension and investment terminology into plain language, helping readers better understand fiduciary duty, climate risk, investment governance, and the mechanics of public pension systems.
Protecting Your Pension: A Guide to Speaking Up on Climate Risk
Speaking before a pension board can feel intimidating. This practical guide helps workers and beneficiaries prepare thoughtful testimony by connecting climate risk, fiduciary responsibility, and retirement security into clear, persuasive messages.
Managing Risk and Opportunities in Private Market Investments
Private equity, infrastructure, and other private market investments are becoming an increasingly important part of pension portfolios. This explainer examines how climate risk, labor standards, transparency, and governance intersect in private markets while highlighting approaches pension funds are using to strengthen long-term stewardship.
Organizing & Engagement
The Power of Our Story: A Storytelling Guide for Workers and Union Members
Featuring conversations with CFA Advisors Beverly Ortiz and Marcela Pinilla, this course explores how personal stories become organizing tools. Through videos, reflections, and practical guidance, participants learn how worker narratives can influence pension boards, investors, policymakers, and fellow union members.
Integrated Resilience Checklist
Strong pension governance requires asking better questions. This checklist helps trustees, worker leaders, and advocates evaluate how pension funds are addressing climate risk, transition planning, accountability, workforce resilience, and long-term economic competitiveness.
Why We Created These Resources
Climate Finance Action has sought to help workers, trustees, and advocates better understand the systems shaping their retirement security. We believe financial literacy is an organizing tool. When workers understand how pension systems operate, they are better equipped to ask informed questions, engage decision-makers, and advocate for investment strategies that strengthen both retirement security and climate resilience.
Whether you're beginning your learning journey or supporting others in theirs, we hope these resources provide practical starting points for meaningful engagement.
