Financial tools to support implementation of the Paris Agreement
The We Mean Business Coalition
To address the systemic risks that arise from climate change, we need to change the financial system.
Business transparency on climate issues will mean that a low-carbon future tomorrow will provide opportunities for sustainable economic growth and prosperity today. The UN Sustainable Development Goals will not be met unless climate change is addressed.
This is the business message set out in a statement launched today at intergovernmental UNFCCC talks in Bonn on implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The We Mean Business coalition has a strong track record of supporting corporate transparency on climate change. Over 190 major companies and investors have previously committed through the We Mean Business Take Action campaign to put climate change information into their mainstream reports in order to drive the efficient allocation of capital.
Today the We Mean Business Coalition is calling on politicians and CEOs from G20 countries represented at the Bonn climate negotiations to work together in endorsing and taking forward the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The final TCFD recommendations will be presented to the G20 meeting in July.
We Mean Business proposes a three-tier response to the TCFD’s recommendations:
1. Global: G20 governments should welcome the recommendations, and agree to create supporting measures together with an international level playing field;
2. National: At domestic level G20 governments should work with investors and consider how to adjust their national policies and regulations to ensure implementation, as well as introducing complementary policies such as carbon pricing and reforming fossil fuel subsidies;
3. Corporate: CEOs have a major role to play by supporting the recommendations and implementing them as soon as possible, setting low-carbon transition plans for their companies and addressing supply chain impacts.
The level of political support that will be offered for the TCFD’s recommendations by G20 countries will help determine how effectively they will be translated into reporting requirements at national level, and into positive changes in corporate governance at the company level. The success of the recommendations will also depend on the willingness of companies to apply them.
Now, more than ever, we must continue the unprecedented collaboration that brought the Paris Agreement into force. We will only fulfil its ambitions and achieve the scale of urgent transformation needed by working closely together – and by changing the financial system so that it builds the future we want.