ESG 401(k) Investing Rule to Make Good on Biden Climate Vow (1)

The US Labor Department says it has clinched a key policy in the Biden administration’s fight against climate change by easing restrictions on environmental and socially conscious retirement investing.

A copy of the department’s final rule emailed to Bloomberg Law Tuesday makes clear that retirement plan decision-makers called fiduciaries may—but aren’t required to—consider the effect environmental, social, and corporate governance factors have on an investment or when exercising shareholder voting rights.

The rule reverses course on a pair of Trump-era regulations the department says chilled fiduciary action. It follows two executive orders that required a review of former President Donald ...