With no standardized system in place for measuring company activities, it has historically been a challenge for institutional investors to assess their climate-related impact.
The task force on climate-related disclosures is aiming to change that by creating a knowledge hub that encourages companies to improve how they disclose activities that affect the climate.
The hub includes a variety of resources, including legislative and regulatory documents, research papers and webinars, among other tools, that address the task force’s recommendations directly or cover related themes.
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“Since the launch of the task force, we have emphasized that improved climate-related disclosure is a journey,” said Mary Schapiro, a special advisor to its chair and head of its secretariat, in a press release.
“With the disclosure recommendations finalized last June, we have been working to assist companies and sectors with implementing the recommendations and making climate-related financial disclosures a reality.”
She noted the knowledge hub wold simplify the necessary steps for companies to provide transparency to the capital markets about how they identify, measure, manage and mitigate climate-related financial risk.
Further, the hub is aiming to help companies share experiences and learning. “The hub is designed to help both organizations that are just starting to work on the [task force’s] recommendations, as well as those who are already on the journey and need insightful resources to deal with specific challenges,” said Simon Messenger, managing director of the not-for-profit Climate Disclosure Standards Board.
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The recommendations deal with how companies function with regard to climate change in the categories of governance, strategy and risk management, as well as metrics and targets. So far, 275 companies have publicly started following the recommendations, with a combined market capitalization of US$7.1 trillion.
It’s important for companies to have a single place where they can find everything they need to implement the recommendations, said Christian Hell, senior manager of sustainability services at KPMG and a contributor to the knowledge hub, in the press release.
“It connects reporting companies with the resources they need. KPMG was therefore glad to contribute resources, such as our climate risks and opportunities platform, which helps businesses start their journey towards a climate-resilient business model.”
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