Climate Task Force Releases Final Disclosure Recommendations

By Randi Morrison posted 06-30-2017 10:33 AM

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Further to a public consultation launched in December 2016 (which we reported on here: see "Climate Task Force Releases Proposed Disclosure Recommendations"), yesterday, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released its final recommendations on voluntary global standards for climate risk disclosure proposed to be applicable to companies' "mainstream" financial statements.

As noted in the consultation summary, the respondent pool was composed of nearly equivalent percentages of disclosure preparers (44%) and disclosure users (45%), with the balance representing NGOs and others. 75% of preparer respondents reportedly characterized the then-proposed recommendations and guidance for all sectors in preparing disclosures as "useful" and 66% characterized the supplemental sector-specific guidance as "useful"; however, consultation respondents generally also sought (among other things) clarification on which recommended disclosures depend on a materiality assessment and flexibility for organizations to provide some or all of the disclosures in reports other than financial filings - which the final recommendations reportedly address (see, e.g., pages 9 - 10 of this Overview).

The recommendations received support from over 100 businesses spanning numerous industries globally. Next steps: The report is slated to be presented at the G20 Summit July 7th - 8th. The TCFD has been extended through September 2018 to support and monitor adoption of the recommendations.

See also the Executive Summary, the Annex on implementing the recommendations, this technical supplement, these FAQs, Davis Polk's briefing, and these articles from Forbes, Euractiv, and the WSJ.

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