London, 20 April 2015. The United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Initiative is the newest signatory to the Statement on fiduciary duty & climate change disclosure, a commitment to make use of climate change-related information as a matter of fiduciary duty.
As the effects of climate change on economic activity become more significant, there is increasing demand from investors, trustees and other fiduciaries for consistent, comparable, actionable information on how corporates are using climate change information, for example, including this information in annual reports. As this presents a challenge for many companies, a leading group of global corporations and investors have committed themselves to report and make use of climate change information on a common basis in mainstream corporate reports. Examples of such information include climate change risks and opportunities affecting the organizations, what governance structures are in place within an organization to address these, as well as targets the company has to reduce its emissions.
The signatories feel strongly that reporting on climate-related information is part of their fiduciary responsibility. It is the first time that such a significant collective commitment on climate disclosure has been undertaken.
“More and more businesses have started to realise that not responding to climate change is going to cost them money,” said Fiona Reynolds, managing director of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). “Investors are putting pressure on companies to disclose their climate plans and indicate how they plan to transition their business from a high carbon to a low carbon environment. So initiatives like the fiduciary duty and climate change disclosure statement are a good way to ensure corporate action on climate is being communicated to investors.”
Mardi McBrien, CDSB’s Managing Director said: “We encourage all investors to incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes and call on companies to provide such disclosures. We hope that the statement will send a clear signal to the UN climate change negotiations on the private sector’s support for a strong deal in Paris this year.”
In support of the commitment, the CDSB partnership has developed a common framework for the inclusion of climate-related disclosure in mainstream corporate reports. The Climate Change Reporting Framework, which is ready for wider application by companies and investors, has an important role to play in broadening the United Nation’s strategy on climate change beyond the intergovernmental negotiating process.
To lend your organization’s support to the commitment, read the Statement on fiduciary duty and climate change disclosure and get in touch with us at .