New York's financial services regulatory agency became the first of its kind in the country on Tuesday to join an international coalition of bank supervisors with a goal of driving the financial industry to address climate change.

Department of Financial Services Superintendent Linda Lacewell said her agency is the first state banking regulator in the U.S. to join the coalition, called the Network for Greening the Financial System.

"As the federal government continues to deny climate change and rolls back important regulations designed to sustain our planet for future generations, New York is once again leading the way to contribute solutions to a real and growing problem," Lacewell said.

Members of the NGFS, which is recognized internationally, work together to share experiences on how financial institutions and their regulators can operate in ways beneficial to the environment, particularly when it comes to climate change.

The coalition first convened early last year and currently has nearly 50 members, including central banks, supervisors and international organizations. They intend to develop a set of best practices for institutions to follow, globally, to support an environmentally sustainable economy.

DFS also signed on Tuesday to become a member of the Sustainable Insurance Forum, an international network of insurance supervisors with a focus similar to the NGFS. New York is the second state in the country, behind California, to join that coalition.

"Both the global banking and insurance industries have a critical role to play in addressing climate change, and as a member of NGFS and SIF, DFS will be collaborating with our international partners as well as working closely with our regulated entities to build for a sustainable future," Lacewell said.

The SIF, like the NGFS, is geared toward comprehending how changes in the environment can impact the insurance industry, and how to address those challenges. The group conducts surveys, issues reports, and makes recommendations related to sustainability.

Part of the reason DFS decided to join the groups, the agency said, is because of the financial impact born from the prevalence of climate change. Extreme weather events often result in large amounts of damages, and also come with risk to the U.S. financial system.

It's another step the state has taken, in recent years, to address the growing problem of climate change. The state Legislature, this year, approved the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which sets an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85% over the next three decades.

The New York Attorney General's Office has also levied several lawsuits in recent years against the Trump administration over attempts to rollback stricter rules related to emissions and environmental pollution.

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