A number of large Canadian pension funds are among the global organizations that have signed a statement supporting the voluntary recommendations set out by the Financial Stability Board’s task force on climate-related financial disclosures.
“We believe that climate change will have significant impacts across many sectors and that we, as business leaders, have an important role to play in ensuring transparency around climate-related risks and opportunities,” stated the letter.
Those who signed the statement include: Kevin Uebelein, chief executive officer of the Alberta Investment Management Corp.; Gordon J. Fyfe, chief executive officer and chief investment officer at the British Columbia Investment Management Corp.; Michael Sabia, president and chief executive officer at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec; Mark Machin, president and chief executive officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board; Ron Mock, president and chief executive officer of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan; and Hugh O’Reilly, president and chief executive officer at OPSEU Pension Trust.
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The task force was formed in December 2015 to develop a set of voluntary, standard disclosure recommendations for companies making climate-related financial disclosures to investors, lenders and insurance underwriters.
The recommendations, published at the end of June, are structured around four themes:
- Governance: the organization’s governance around climate-related risks and opportunities;
- Strategy: the actual and potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on the organization’s businesses, strategy and financial planning;
- Risk management: the processes used by the organization to identify, assess and manage climate-related risks; and
- Metrics and targets: the metrics and targets used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities.
“The task force’s recommendations will catalyze more consistent, comparable and reliable disclosure of climate-related information that will facilitate more informed business and investment decision-making,” stated the letter.
“These disclosures are an important step forward in enabling market forces to drive efficient allocation of capital and support a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy. In signing this letter, we are proud to express our support for better disclosures of climate-related risks and opportunities and we urge other business leaders to do the same.”
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