On 31st January 2022, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) was consolidated into the IFRS Foundation to support the work of the newly established International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While this site and its resources remain relevant for preparers looking to improve sustainability disclosure until such time as the ISSB issues its IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards on such topics, no further work or guidance will be produced or published by CDSB. For further information please visit the IFRS website.

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CDP and CDSB team up to provide the building blocks for successful TCFD disclosure

Connecting CDP disclosures with the CDSB Framework to satisfy the TCFD recommendations

Download the building blocks guidance.

London, 12 May 2020: More than 1000 organisations have declared their support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. However, there is still confusion in the market regarding where companies can get the data from and how to properly report it. To provide this solution, CDP and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) have teamed up to produce the building blocks for effective TCFD-aligned disclosure using CDP data and the CDSB Framework. 

TCFD-aligned disclosures should not be seen as novel or daunting, as is often perceived by the market. The good news is that most companies already have the data that they need readily available to make TCFD disclosures. After all, over 8000 companies, including the majority of the world’s largest, disclosed to CDP through its climate change questionnaire in 2019. While the information provided in a CDP response covers much of the same ground as the TCFD recommendations, it is essential for these material climate-related financial disclosures to be included in the mainstream report to meet the expectations and recommendations of the TCFD.

“The consistent and well-structured information contained in your CDP response is the perfect basis for satisfying the TCFD recommendations and making disclosures in mainstream reports against the eleven TCFD recommendations. To do so, companies need to translate their CDP disclosures to meet the expectations of the mainstream report. The CDSB Framework provides the best means for this,” says Paul Simpson, CEO, CDP.

The release of this practical guidance comes at a time when the move to mandatory TCFD disclosure is becoming increasingly more likely. Regulators and companies in regions such as the EU, UK, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Canada are already acting to prioritise and price climate-related risks throughout their financial systems by means of mainstream disclosure.

“Preparing and reporting on material climate-related risks and opportunities now offers companies two critical advantages. The first being a better understanding of emergent and extraordinary climate-related risks and opportunities, allowing for well-reasoned strategic responses. Secondly, companies can prepare for the inevitability of mandatory TCFD disclosure. It’s not a matter of if, but when”, comments Mardi McBrien, Managing Director, CDSB. 

“This guidance is the ideal practical resource to help companies implement the TCFD recommendations in a reliable and investor-useful manner in the mainstream report. The most important thing to remember is that most companies already have the building blocks in place by disclosing to CDP so they are already one step ahead”. 

Download “The Building Blocks: Connecting CDP data with the CDSB Framework to successfully fulfil the TCFD recommendations”. www.cdsb.net/buildingblocks 

Join the exclusive webinar tomorrow, 13 May, where we’ll step through the guidance and discuss the evolving climate disclosure landscape and what to expect moving forward. 

Register here: https://bit.ly/3bxKchG  

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Further information 

About CDSB 

The Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) was founded in 2007 and is an international consortium of business and environmental NGOs committed to advancing and aligning the global mainstream corporate reporting model to equate natural capital with financial capital. It does so by offering companies a framework for reporting environmental and climate information with the same rigour as financial information. In turn, this helps them to provide investors with decision-useful environmental and climate information via the mainstream corporate report, enhancing the efficient allocation of capital.  Regulators also benefit from compliance-ready materials. Collectively, CDSB aim to contribute to more sustainable economic, social, and environmental system. 

CDSB hosts the TCFD Knowledge Hub on behalf of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.

About CDP

CDP is an international non-profit that drives companies and governments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Voted number one climate research provider by investors and working with institutional investors with assets of US$96 trillion, we leverage investor and buyer power to motivate companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts. Over 8400 companies with some 50% of global market capitalization disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2019. This is in addition to the over 850 cities, states and regions who disclosed, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are driving environmental change. CDP is a founding member of the We Mean Business Coalition. Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more. 

Press enquiries:

Lesley McKenna, Communications Manager, 
Climate Disclosure Standards Board 

+44 (0) 7825 409 060