Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, stated that to retain its independence from politics, the central financial institution should “stick with its knitting” — and meaning it’s not the appropriate establishment to delve into points like mitigating local weather change.

“With out express congressional laws, it will be inappropriate for us to make use of our financial coverage or supervisory instruments to advertise a greener economic system or to realize different climate-based targets,” stated Mr. Powell, who delivered his feedback at a convention held by Sweden’s central financial institution. “We aren’t, and won’t be, a ‘local weather policymaker.’”

Mr. Powell’s feedback responded to occasional calls from Democrats for the Fed to take a extra lively function in policing local weather change, and to skepticism from some Republicans that it could possibly guard in opposition to climate-related dangers to the monetary system with out overstepping and actively influencing whether or not industries like oil and fuel can entry credit score.

Whereas the central financial institution is engaged on methods to raised monitor climate-related dangers at monetary establishments, officers together with Mr. Powell have been clear that they need to not attempt to incentivize banks to lend to inexperienced initiatives or discourage them from lending to carbon-producing ones.

“Addressing local weather change appears prone to require insurance policies that might have important distributional and different results on corporations, industries, areas, and nations,” Mr. Powell stated in his remarks.

The Fed’s growing openness and higher willingness to speak about points like local weather, racism and inequality lately has often drawn backlash from Republicans, together with a number of on the Senate Banking Committee, which helps to supervise the central financial institution.

The Fed ought to “not get lost to pursue perceived social advantages that aren’t tightly linked to our statutory targets and authorities,” Mr. Powell stated in his speech, seemingly responding to such issues.

The talk over the Fed’s function in local weather change conversations — and in politicized points extra broadly — has pale into the background because the extra quick downside of speedy inflation has taken heart stage. Nevertheless it stays a gentle drumbeat that’s prone to return to the fore, significantly now that Republicans management the Home.

The Fed needs to keep away from overstepping and drawing backlash that would imperil its freedom to set coverage with out interference from Congress and the White Home.

America’s central financial institution is given substantial freedom to set coverage with out political interference. Its officers in Washington are chosen by the president and confirmed by the Senate, however as soon as in workplace, they’re free to set coverage as they see match and in collaboration with their colleagues from regional Fed banks throughout the nation. Congress provides the Fed its broad targets — most employment and secure costs — however its policymakers are allowed to interpret what that mandate means and pursue it as they see match.

That implies that central bankers could make tough and probably painful choices once they imagine it’s obligatory, even when these decisions may show politically unpalatable. That’s significantly true in the present day, because the Fed raises charges to restrain the economic system and management speedy inflation. Its actions are prone to trigger unemployment to rise and wage progress to gradual, however officers suppose these sacrifices are wanted to make sure that quick inflation doesn’t turn out to be a extra everlasting characteristic of the American economic system.

“Restoring worth stability when inflation is excessive can require measures that aren’t fashionable within the brief time period as we elevate rates of interest to gradual the economic system,” Mr. Powell stated. “The absence of direct political management over our choices permits us to take these obligatory measures with out contemplating short-term political components.”

However Mr. Powell stated that in a well-functioning democracy, most choices ought to be made by elected officers, and grants of independence ought to be “exceedingly uncommon, express, tightly circumscribed and restricted to these points that clearly warrant safety.”

Local weather is a very thorny downside for the Fed. As a financial institution supervisor, it wants to consider dangers to the monetary system, and the road between defending banks and influencing who can simply entry financing might show to be a fuzzy one.

Consequently, the Fed is continuing rigorously because it develops bank-watching practices associated to local weather.

“The Fed does have slim, however necessary, duties concerning climate-related monetary dangers,” Mr. Powell stated. “The general public fairly expects supervisors to require that banks perceive, and appropriately handle, their materials dangers, together with the monetary dangers of local weather change.”