Panel Debate - Financial reporting alignment with the G-20 backed Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) and the benefits of robust climate risk stress testing

Will the US Fed department lead the way in the region with a strong climate mandate?  Are there any political barriers which may impede the roll out?

There has been significant work towards developing a common international corporate reporting standard for sustainability disclosures, building on the TCFD’s recommendations and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Businesses across the North American region face significant risks from climate change, both in terms of increasing physical threats from storms, droughts, and rising sea levels, but also transition risks arising from stricter carbon mitigation policies. Improving climate disclosures enables investors to better allocate capital and enhances corporate focus on the risks - and opportunities - climate change will bring about. Conversely, failure to meet investor demands can threaten a company's ability to raise finance while leaving it vulnerable to physical climate threats, slow to capitalise on opportunities, and potentially exposed to punitive action from regulators. The advent of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has provided a unifying framework to identify, manage, and detail those risks and opportunities around which other disclosure benchmarks are coalescing.

Climate policy is politically contentious and congressional approval may be a difficult route-  financial regulators such as the SEC has been ramping up its involvement in climate risk concurrently with the Federal Reserve.

Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board recently overhauled its sustainability policy to urge companies to report in line with TCFD and SASB (Sustainable Accounting Standards Board) will this be enough to set the stage for rapid change in line for COP26 and address the reputational risks around the “S” in ESG both in Canada and abroad?

Update on the latest SEC amendments to modernise and enhance climate financial disclosures- using TCFD implementation as a benchmark  



Examining the Canadian Pension Investment Board Sustainability policy- how does this compare with policies in the US?