International Context:

The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS), is taking a leading role in promoting the disclosure of climate risks and opportunities by taking on the responsibilities of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) from next year.

The IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) published international sustainability standards in June 2023, which include a questionnaire on climate-related disclosures (IFRS 2) fully aligned with the TCFD recommendations. This transfer of responsibilities marks a significant step in the consolidation of global standards.

The TCFD was established by the FSB in 2015 with the objective of developing consistent disclosure standards for companies, enabling investors and other stakeholders to assess companies’ climate-related financial risk. The first recommendations were published in June 2017 and have so far effectively served as the industry standard for climate-related disclosure.

IFRS 2, known as “International Financial Reporting Standards 2: Climate-related disclosures”, is the first thematic standard, and seeks to understand the risks, physical and transitional, and opportunities arising from climate change, in the transition to a low-carbon economy, that affect companies and how vulnerable and exposed they are to them.

In a statement from the IFRS Foundation confirming that it will assume the responsibilities of the TCFD, ISSB Chairman Emmanuel Faber said: “The ISSB has built and consolidated market-leading investor-focused initiatives to deliver the ISSB Standards, in line with the TCFD recommendations. As such, ISSB welcomes the FSB’s request to transfer TCFD monitoring responsibilities to ISSB from 2024 and the opportunity to build on the TCFD legacy. This announcement will hopefully provide further clarification of what has been termed the ‘alphabet soup’ of ESG initiatives for companies and investors.

European context:

In Europe the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) passed in November 2022, obliges companies that meet certain parameters to report information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects following the European Reporting Standards (ESRS).

The European reporting standards were developed by EFRAG, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, to standardise the information to be reported by companies so that it can be comparable and allow for better assessment by stakeholders. The standards include mandatory cross-cutting questionnaires for all reporting companies, and thematic questionnaires, to be disclosed on the basis of a dual materiality analysis.

It is important to note that the ESRS E1 on Climate Change is also fully aligned with TCFD.

The Spanish context:

Finally, it is worth mentioning that, in Spain, these disclosures related to Climate Risks and Opportunities will become mandatory following the Royal Decree issued by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), which will mark a significant advance in awareness and transparency around the financial implications of climate change.

The standard explicitly cites TCFD recommendations and the content of the report to be disclosed is also aligned with TCFD.

For further information, please do not hesitate to contact:

Jose Manuel Correa (jcorrea@globalfactor.com), Itziar Patiño (ipatino@globalfactor.com) or Rocío Dañino (rdanino@globalfactor.com)

Source: Global Factor

Global Factor is an international group with 19 years of experience, specialised in offering global, original, and innovative solutions in the fields of climate change adaptation and mitigation, carbon footprint, sustainability, circular economy, renewable energies, climate neutrality and carbon markets. Global Factor has an interdisciplinary team with a presence in 8 countries and has participated in more than 2,000 projects for more than 700 public and private clients, international organisations and non-profit entities in 51 different countries.