With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day arriving on Wednesday next week, CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) on April 2 signed on to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), an initiative of the Financial Stability Board, which coordinates financial rules for G20 economies.
As part of the disclosures agreement, CTBC said that it would develop a framework to oversee the management of climate change-induced risks, as well as establish various control mechanisms for recognizing, assessing, overseeing and disclosing the risks and opportunities that climate change might bring to enterprises, it said in a news release on Monday.
“Climate change is not a figment of the imagination, nor is it something that we experience at a given moment, but a risk that is currently affecting us,” CTBC Financial president Daniel Wu (吳一揆) said in the release.
Photo courtesy of CTBC Financial Holding Co
“CTBC believes the TCFD helps provide a viable assessment framework for the risks and opportunities that come with climate change and assists the company in perpetuating corporate sustainable development,” he said.
CTBC last month set up a new corporate sustainability office under Wu’s supervision.
After signing on to the TCFD, the company is to publish reports on the “Principles for Responsible Investment” and the “Principles for Sustainable Insurance” by the end of this year, it said.
Through these efforts, CTBC hopes to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into its day-to-day operations, and strengthen its sustainable development prospects, it added.
In responding to the potential risks and opportunities for the global economy caused by climate change, the Financial Stability Board in June 2017 released the TCFD guidelines to provide a clear, comparable and consistent framework for information disclosure and reporting, while allowing companies to be more transparent with stakeholders.
TCFD distinguishes climate change risks into transformation risks that are caused by policies and regulations, as well as new technology development, and physical risks that are derived from extreme climate events or long-term rises in sea level.
Meanwhile, opportunities for climate change include benefits from green energy development, improved resource efficiency and reduced energy consumption.
Since the introduction of the agreement, CTBC has voluntarily followed the relevant principles to promote corporate social responsibility and continued to communicate with stakeholders, it said.
The company has established various management frameworks to monitor the risks and opportunities related to climate change and examine the degree of potential financial impact it could cause, it added.
As of the end of February, more than 1,027 companies worldwide had signed on to support the agreement, CTBC said.
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