Louise Yeung hopes to bolster NYC’s response to climate change to better address safety, health and the city’s affordability crisis.

Climate change poses a clear and growing risk to the economy and the retirement security of millions of workers. An analysis of the 30 largest U.S. pension funds, including New York City’s, underscores the urgency of that risk, finding that investment returns could be nearly 50 percent lower by 2040 due to the climate crisis.

As climate change accelerates, extreme heat is no longer just an environmental concern—it is becoming one of the most serious and overlooked labor risks of the 21st century. For millions of people who work outdoors or in poorly cooled indoor environments ...