Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

On the one hand, the UN and the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy hailed the Agreement as 'historic'[3] for securing NDC commitments from 189 countries.

'[4]  One of the most significant criticisms of the NDC approach is the lack of transparency and international standards by which countries demonstrate or disclose that they are meeting their commitments.

Under the chairmanship of Michael Bloomberg, the Task Force published recommendations designed to standardise worldwide climate-related disclosures that could "promote more informed investment... and in turn, enable stakeholders to understand better concentrations of carbon-related assets in the financial sectors.

Most of the... companies that got climate data verified employed an engineering or consulting firm, rather than an accounting one...'[10] However, at COP26, the IFRS announced the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), into which the TCFD will converge.

While many companies have increased their efforts to improve sustainable operations in recent years, and investors are increasingly pursuing Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) integration in their investment decisions, the lack of consistent disclosure and reliable data for assessing, analyzing and tracking progress remains the biggest barrier to disclosure.