As a company diligently considering sustainability as a fundamental part of your business operations, you might be curious about the current Climate Reporting Standards in 2022 and beyond.
In this article, we cover major upcoming Climate Reporting Regulations across the globe, and how that might affect your business or your client’s business – and therefore yours too. We’ll also provide an overview of the latest climate news.
UK
Starting from April 2022, greater transparency on climate-related risks and opportunities will be required. Britain’s largest companies will have to disclose their climate-related financial information, in line with TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) recommendations. This will concern UK’s traded companies, as well as private companies with over 500 employees and £500 million in turnover.
These standards will help tackle greenwashing, as well as encourage businesses to better understand the financial impacts of their activities with regard to climate change. It will allow them to price the climate-related risks more accurately and fully align their long-term strategies with the UK’s net-zero commitments.
Switzerland
As of 2024, public companies, banks, and insurance companies with over 500 employees, more than CHF 20 million in total assets, or more than CHF 40 million in turnover will need to report publicly on climate issues using Taskforce in line with TCFD regulations. This new mandate will require not only reporting the company’s climate-related financial risk but also the company’s impact on the environment.
Banking industry in the EU
After reported gaps have been found in the banking industry, the European Union is now imposing new regulations on how banks should report environmental risks and carbon targets. This will allow for an objective assessment and give investors a better overview of the threats that climate change poses.
Banks will have to comply twice per year with the new climate reporting requirements. They will include existing initiatives such as the TCFD and go one step further by collecting detailed information, such as carbon-related assets, indicators measuring financing activities consistent with the Taxonomy, and Pillar 3 obligations.
Enhanced EU CSR Reporting Standards: Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD)
Sustainability reporting is going to be mandatory for more companies in the EU. Starting from 2023, the first set of Sustainability Reporting Standards under the Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD) will be adopted for all listed companies and large businesses meeting at least two requirements:
- > 250 employees and/or
- > €40M Turnover and/or
- > €20M Total Assets
What does the new scope of reporting entail? One of the additional requirements will include the double materiality concept, which is the sustainability risk affecting the company and the firm’s impact on society and the environment. The new directive introduces more detailed reporting requirements, and a requirement to report according to mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards:
- More visionary information, such as detailed targets and achieved progress will also be required, as well as intangible information concerning social, human, and intellectual capital.
- Companies will have to disclose these data in their management report and submit it electronically, in line with Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
- The CSRD will also require an audit (assurance) of reported information.
It’s likely that Climate-related performance indicators will be included.
USA
The United States is planning to publish a Climate Reporting framework for publicly-listed companies by March 2022. The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) is currently deciding which criteria to include. The framework will build on the TFCD framework and the newly created International Sustainability Standards Board.
Other Climate News
- Did you know that we reached 1,2°C global warming in 2021? And it will likely reach or exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. Reminder: the Paris Agreement aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase by 2100 to 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C.
- According to the latest IPCC report, some impacts of climate change are irreversible for millennia, such as melting of ice caps and sea-level rise. If emissions continue rising, carbon sinks (oceans and land) will be less and less capable of absorbing carbon emissions.
- Did you know that global warming of 3 degrees Celsius could cost as much as $1.6 trillion each year in lost labor productivity? The most vulnerable are outdoor workers in hot and humid countries who will no longer be able to perform their jobs.
- The European Commission proposed a set of climate regulations, where EU countries would be required to renovate their least energy-efficient buildings by the end of the decade to cut emissions and save fuel. Buildings are mostly heated by fossil fuels and account for around 40% of the EU’s energy use.
We hope this article gives you useful insights into the future of climate reporting.
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Sources: UK Government, ESG Today, News24, KPMG, ESG Investor, World Economic Forum, EU Commission, Climate Action Tracker
