The importance of looking forward to manage risks: submission to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
Companies that do not plan for the inevitable low-carbon economy resulting from climate action sparked by the Paris Climate Change Agreement risk considerable financial losses and drops in value, argue a pair of leading economists from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Nicholas Stern and Dimitri Zenghelis, respectively Chairman and Co-Head of Climate Policy at Grantham, urge the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to deliver ambitious reporting guidance on climate risks. To do so, they submitted a policy paper to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Announced at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of last year, the task force’s mission is developing voluntary climate risk disclosure procedures for companies. The task force was created by the Financial Stability Board and is chaired by UN climate envoy Michael Bloomberg. A final report is expected by the end of the year. Nicholas Stern and Dimitri Zenghelis argue that carbon-intensive companies are not ready for the impact of the Paris Agreement’s commitments.