Have you ever wondered about the return on your organization’s financial commitment to adaptation and climate change mitigation? Is it truly an investment that justifies any return, or is it simply a capital expenditure with little to no value for the organization’s cash flow?

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) recognized these questions and the need for transparency. Investors and other stakeholders demanded disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities faced by organizations. In response, the FSB created the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which developed the TCFD Framework. This framework provides guidelines for disclosing financial information about an organization’s performance concerning climate-related risks and opportunities.

Michael R. Bloomberg states that increasing transparency makes markets more efficient and economies more stable and resilient. He describes markets as the barometer for efficient resource allocation. The TCFD Framework aims to provide a forward-looking standard for comparability across organizations and industries, with a goal of including these disclosures in annual financial filings (Integrated Audited Financial Reports).

The TCFD Framework is based on four core elements:

1. Governance
2. Strategy
3. Risk Management
4. Metrics and Targets

For each element, disclosures address the financial impacts of identified climate-related risks and opportunities on an organization’s performance over the short, medium, and long term. Climate-related risks and opportunities can financially impact an organization by affecting its future cash flows or the value of its assets and liabilities, thus influencing its financial position.

The framework encourages organizations to disclose their governance structures, detailing the board’s oversight of climate-related issues and management’s role in assessing and managing these issues. Stakeholders can then better understand whether climate-related issues receive appropriate attention from the board and management.

Organizations are also guided to disclose their strategies around climate-related issues, including who is affected by these issues, the opportunities the strategy aims to leverage, and the understanding that these disclosures will manifest over the medium and long term. Additionally, the framework calls for the disclosure of internal control structures and systems to identify climate-related risks.

The TCFD Framework also provides guidance on measuring climate-related disclosures, allowing for cross-industry comparison and trend analysis from a long-term perspective. Organizations are encouraged to disclose their internal carbon prices and climate-related metrics, including performance indicators for a low-carbon economy.

Merits of the TCFD Framework

• Comparative Benchmarking: The framework provides a standard for benchmarking through financial matrices.
• Discourages Short-termism: It emphasizes that climate-related risks and opportunities manifest over the medium and long term.
• Interoperability: The index can be used with any accounting framework.
• Comprehensive Evaluation: It promotes an evaluation of an organization’s structures and resource allocation beyond short-term shareholder value.
• Holistic Approach: It fosters a comprehensive understanding and approach to climate action within corporations.
• Continuous Monitoring: It encourages ongoing monitoring of climate-related risks and opportunities.
• Efficient Capital Markets: It provides easily comprehensible information that can inform objective resource allocation with a comprehensive understanding of risks involved.

Finally, while the TCFD Framework forms a solid basis for disclosing the financial impact of climate-related risks and opportunities, there is consensus among consultants that a comprehensive assessment across multiple indices, including the IFRS S1 by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), is necessary. Scribe offers comprehensive consulting services for your sustainability needs and would be pleased to guide you towards effective climate-related financial disclosures.