It’s not easy being green: Mark Carney welcomes new recommendations for environmental disclosures from firms
Mark Carney has today welcomed new guidelines for companies to disclose what impact their business is having on climate change in a bid to help investors make more environmentally informed decisions.
Carney, who was speaking as the chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), hailed the recommendations from the FSB Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which outline proposals for how firms should consider climate change as part of their corporate governance and the types of scenarios firms should be disclosing to potential investors.
"The disclosure recommendations will give financial markets the information they need to manage risks, and seize opportunities, stemming from climate change," said Carney. "As a private sector solution to a market issue, the task force has focused on the practical, material disclosures investors want and which all capital-raising companies can compile."
Read more: Now Donald Trump has changed his mind on climate change
Michael Bloomberg, chair of the task force, added:
Climate change is not only an environmental problem, but a business one as well. We need business leaders to join us to help spread these recommendations across their industries in order to help make markets more efficient and economies more stable, resilient, and sustainable.
The task force was established late last year. A consultation on the proposals outlined today will now run until 12 February, and the final recommendations will be presented to G20 leaders ahead of the Hamburg summit in July.
Read more: Former Lib Dem energy secretary refused access to a report he commissioned
"A company’s legal duty to disclose material risks is clear and this duty applies equally to climate risk," said Alice Garton, senior corporate lawyer for ClientEarth, ahead of the report launch. "These recommendations set the standard for compliance with these existing laws."