This commitment will showcase forward-thinking businesses looking to report the financial risks and opportunities that climate change creates in order to align their disclosures with investors’ needs.
LONDON 17 July 2017
Today the Climate Disclosure Standards Board is announcing the launch of a new initiative: a commitment for companies to implement the G20 Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’s (TCFD) recommendations. This commitment will showcase forward-thinking businesses looking to report the financial risks and opportunities that climate change creates in order to align their disclosures with investors’ needs.
The commitment is the first initiative that highlights not only general private sector support for the work of the TCFD, but most importantly, how the first movers in this space will be practically adopting the recommendations, reporting for the first time on a common and comparable basis to their investors. Companies signing up will commit to report climate-related financial information by 2020, to support a smooth, orderly transition to a low-carbon economy, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Richard Samans, Chairman, Climate Disclosure Standards Board, said: “This initiative provides a platform that will help companies find the support they need to collect, prepare and disclose this type of information, while showcasing the leadership of those who will report on climate risks with adequate rigour for the first time. Adopting the TCFD recommendations will contribute to the creation of more efficient, climate-resilient markets."
This initiative encourages companies to use the CDSB Climate Change Reporting Framework to implement the recommendations, therefore disclosing climate information in mainstream reports, as defined by the TCFD recommendations. The commitment is now open for signatories, and will be followed by a formal launch in the next few months. For more information about the initiative and why it matters, visit www.cdsb.net/commitment
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Media contact
Denise Puca, Communications Manager, CDSB
+44(0)782 540 9060
Notes to the editor
This commitment builds on the CDSB Statement on Fiduciary Duty and Climate Change Disclosure. With 160 companies, with a combined market capitalisation of US$3.2 trillion, it was one of the most popular initiatives of We Mean Business. Both commitments share a core element: the integration of consistent climate-related information within the mainstream report. The new commitment will encourage companies to take a step forward and focus specifically on following the recommendations of the TCFD.
About the Climate Disclosure Standards Board
The Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) is an international consortium of business and environmental NGOs. We are committed to advancing and aligning the global mainstream corporate reporting model to equate natural capital with financial capital. We do this by offering companies a framework for reporting environmental information with the same rigour as financial information. In turn this helps them to provide investors with decision-useful environmental information via the mainstream corporate report, enhancing the efficient allocation of capital. Regulators also benefit from compliance-ready materials. Recognising that it is equally essential to have information about both natural capital and financial capital for an understanding of corporate performance, our work builds trust and transparency needed to foster resilient capital markets. Collectively, we aim to contribute to more sustainable economic, social and environmental systems. For more information, visit www.cdsb.net and follow us @CDSBGlobal.