Events
NR EventOverexposed and Under-reported: Climate Risks and the Financial Sector – April 15
Date: Friday, April 15, 2016
Time: 10:00am-12:00pm
Location: Choate Room, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington DC, 20036
This event focused on the new Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), established by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in December of last year to enhance disclosure of climate-related risks in the financial sector. We hosted a roundtable of leading organizations in finance and climate change during the 2016 IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings to explore these issues and how to strengthen the work and outcomes of the TCFD.
The TCFD published its “Phase 1” report for public consultation on April 1, 2016. G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors met in Washington DC on April 14-15, where they discussed progress on this initiative. This meeting was significant because it was an important opportunity to convene interested stakeholders, respond to the TCFD’s first consultation report and encourage diverse feedback in the process going forward. The TCFD will make its final recommendations by the end of 2016.
We invited stakeholders from academia, civil society, think-tanks, congressional offices, socially responsible investment funds and networks, the financial sector and governments.
Among issues discussed were the following:
- How should climate-related risks be defined?
- Will voluntary disclosure standards be effective in achieving the goals of the TCFD?
- How can increased disclosures mitigate risks to global financial stability? And how might this shape financial regulations such as capital requirements, supervisory review, and market supervision under Basel III (or IV)?
- How will/can this effort influence under-regulated financial markets and under-documented but significant greenhouse gas emitters?
- What are the implications for developing countries, especially those most affected by climate change?
Lead Discussants:
Jim Coburn, Investor Program, Ceres
AdamKanzer, Managing Director, Domini Social Investments
Elizabeth Lewis, Head Of Sustainable Investing, World Resources Institute
Nicolai Lundy, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
Simon Zadek,Co-Director, UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System
Chair: Harris Gleckman,Sr. Fellow, Center for Governance and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts-Boston
For a summary of the discussion, please click here