Task force chaired by Bloomberg to deliver voluntary disclosure recommendations by end of 2016
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has named experts in responsible investment, sustainable finance, risk management, climate change and other areas to its new Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), chaired by former mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.
The TCFD, which is charged with creating voluntary, consistent policies for companies to use in financial disclosures to investors, lenders, insurers and others, will include four vice chairs, the FSB says in a press release. The posts will go to Banco Bradesco managing officer Denise Pavarina, Unilever CFO Graeme Pitkethly, Singapore Exchange special adviser Yeo Lian Sim and Christian Thimann, AXA’s group head of strategy for sustainability and public affairs.
Other members of the task force include: Martin Skancke, chairman of the UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment; Dr Steve Waygood, chief responsible investment officer at Aviva Investors; Fiona Wild, vice president for environment and climate change at BHP Billiton; and Wim Bartels, global head of sustainability reporting and assurance at KPMG.
‘The breadth of experience the TCFD brings to this important work will be essential to our success. Managing climate-related risk is increasingly critical to financial stability, but it can’t be done without effective disclosure,’ says Bloomberg in a press release. ‘The recommendations from the task force will increase transparency and help to make markets more efficient and economies more stable and resilient.’
The FSB says the task force will work in two stages, with the first consisting of determining the scope and high-level objectives of the work and the second consisting of creating specific recommendations for voluntary disclosure principles. The TCFD will aim to finish a draft of the second stage by the end of this year and open it up to public consultation.
‘The task force will consider the physical, liability and transition risks associated with climate change and what constitutes effective corporate financial disclosures in this area,’ the FSB press release adds. ‘It will seek to develop a set of recommendations for consistent, comparable, reliable, clear and efficient climate-related disclosures.’
