U.S. Senators and Members of Congress accused Brookfield Renewable Partners of “misleading climate-related claims” in a letter calling for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to strengthen Wall Street firms’ disclosure requirements. The letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler cites UNITE HERE’s recent report, Brookfield Climate Reality Check, which documents multiple ways in which Brookfield’s investment activity and disclosure practices belie its sustainability claims.

Twenty-five Senators and Members of Congress signed the letter, which was led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). It calls for the SEC to protect investors by finalizing a strong climate disclosure rule that would require firms to disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, details around net-zero transition plans, and capital expenditures made towards the climate transition.

“These disclosures are critical, as publicly-traded private equity firms appear particularly prone to understating their [greenhouse gas] emissions and presenting misleading climate-related claims to investors,” the letter reads. “For example… Brookfield Renewable describes itself as “one of the world’s largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms…. An investor who chooses to invest in Brookfield Renewable that Brookfield Renewable is invested in fossil fuel infrastructure and therefore may be unaware of the associated investment risk.”

UNITE HERE’s report on Brookfield Renewable’s parent, Brookfield Asset Management, revealed that despite Brookfield Asset Management’s public pledge to support “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions, it has made new investments in oil sands, natural gas, and coal infrastructure. Indeed, Brookfield’s “net zero” pledge excludes most of the emissions associated with its fossil fuel infrastructure investments.

Congresswoman Tlaib also raised the report in her questioning of Chair Gensler in an SEC oversight hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.

“U.S. companies can and do obscure their exposure to climate risks… and threaten the investment that retirees and workers depend on,” Tlaib told Chair Gensler. Brookfield Renewable “sounds like a choice that would avoid climate-related financial risks, right? Wrong. A recent report found that Brookfield Renewable is invested in a fund that holds fossil fuel infrastructure assets, including Alberta oil sands pipelines, which the firm does not disclose in its SEC filings… I really would urge you to move forward on having a robust disclosure form.”

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