The 31-member global task force represents a broad range of financial sector and non-financial sector representatives, a careful balance of users and preparers of climate-related financial disclosures.
In developing its recommendations, the task force considered the ‘existing regimes for climate reporting across the G20 countries’. It found that most requirements were not focused on financial information. It also reviewed the financial filing requirements for public companies across the G20 countries.
The TCFD recommendations include a set of reporting principles. These principles help achieve high-quality and decision-useful disclosures that enable users to understand the impact of climate change on organisations. The principles, taken together, are designed help organisations make clear the linkages and connections between climate-related issues and their governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
Principle 1: Disclosures should present relevant information.
Principle 2: Disclosures should be specific and complete.
Principle 3: Disclosures should be clear, balanced, and understandable.
Principle 4: Disclosures should be consistent over time.
Principle 5: Disclosures should be comparable among organisations within a sector, industry or portfolio.
Principle 6: Disclosures should be reliable, verifiable and objective.
Principle 7: Disclosures should be provided on a timely basis.
In connection with the launch of the final recommendations report , the TCFD also issued an ‘Annex’ report guiding the implementations of general and sector-specific disclosure recommendations. In 2020, the TCFD issued follow-on reports, including the 2020 Status, Guidance on Scenario Analysis for Non-Financial Companies, and Guidance on Risk Management Integration and Disclosure.
Also reflecting the collaborative approach with the other sustainability standards and framework providers, the CDSB hosts the TCFD Knowledge Hub, and has partnered with other bodies on creating implementation resources including:
Building Blocks: connecting CDP data with the CDSB Framework — A guidance paper for reporting on climate-related risks and opportunities in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations
CDSB Framework application guidance for climate-related disclosures, which focuses on the first six reporting requirements of the CDSB Framework and provides checklists and suggestions for reporting
TCFD Implementation Guide: Using SASB Standards and the CDSB Framework, which CDSB and SASB created, is a ‘how-to’ guide intended to facilitate implementation of the TCFD recommendations
TCFD Good Practice Handbook, a joint CDSB- and SASB-produced follow-on to the Implementation Guide, identifies examples of good practices in reporting across the four core TCFD elements of governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.
