For decades, the finance sector has dismissed climate change as a threat that was either not credible or too nebulous and distant to worry about. But as scientific research provides more quantifiable data on the cost of failing to act, banks, insurers and investors are beginning to take responsibility for the climate problem. As the heart of the global economy, financial institutions have an outsized responsibility to help limit these risks. “Solving climate change is a very capital-intensive undertaking,” said Trevor Houser, a partner at the independent research firm Rhodium Group and co-director of the Lab. Trillions of dollars of investment is needed to fund low-carbon energy production, more efficient buildings and new agricultural practices.