by Matt Davies
January 20, 2024
In what the Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) David Craig called a “milestone moment for nature finance and corporate reporting,” 320 companies and financial institutions spanning 46 countries have committed to making nature-related disclosures based on the TNFD recommendations.
The announcement, made at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum on January 16, 2024, indeed marks a milestone for TNFD.
The taskforce was launched in June 2021 with the G20 and G7 governments’ support. After two years of work, in September 2023 it published a set of recommendations for corporate reporting on nature-related issues.
These recommendations serve as a comprehensive framework for organizations to assess and disclose their dependencies and impacts on nature.
“Supported by 20 knowledge partners with global market input and participation” as the TNFD writes, the TNFD’s recommendations will now be used by prominent publicly listed companies from diverse industries that collectively represent an impressive US$4 trillion in market capitalization.
“Twelve months ago the world came together to agree to the Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse nature loss, including a specific target on corporate reporting,” said Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Executive Director and Co-Chair of the TNFD. “The release of the TNFD recommendations in September last year provided the tools to do that and today we have seen the market commit to start taking action.
Among the participants are over 100 financial institutions, encompassing some of the world’s largest asset owners and managers with a cumulative Assets under Management (AUM) totaling US$14 trillion.
These organizations will integrate TNFD-aligned disclosures into their annual corporate reporting for fiscal years 2023, 2024, or 2025.
Noteworthy participants include seven of the 29 Globally Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) as well as NBIM, the largest single owner in the world’s stock markets that holds almost 1.5% of all shares in listed companies worldwide.
The TNFD’s success in mobilizing such a substantial number of global players underscores the increasing recognition of the importance of nature-related financial disclosures in the corporate world.
Or, as David Craig put it:
“As climate-related sustainability reporting goes mainstream through the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards and regulation in a growing number of countries, this is a clear signal that investors, lenders, insurers and companies are recognizing that their business models and portfolios are highly dependent on both nature and climate and need to be treated as both strategic risks and investment opportunities.”
With this momentum, the TNFD could become a driving force in shaping corporate practices that prioritize the preservation and sustainable use of the Earth’s natural resources.
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This article was originally published on IMPAKTER. Read the original article.