On 7 June 2021, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) issued two documents for public comment:
- Proposed Guidance on Climate-related Metrics, Targets, and Transition Plans. When the TCFD issued its Final Recommendations in 2017, it was aware of the limitations of reporting certain metrics as well as the nascency of climate-related reporting at the time, and anticipated that metric disclosure would evolve as climate-related financial reporting matured. The document now published provides general guidance for organizations seeking to establish relevant metrics, targets and transition plans around their climate-related risks and opportunities similar to the TCFD’s 2020 guidance documents on scenario analysis and risk management. The document also proposes specific changes to the Guidance for All Sectors and Supplemental Guidance in the 2017 TCFD Final Report and Implementing the Recommendations of the TCFD.
- Measuring Portfolio Alignment: Technical Supplement. The TCFD has previously conducted a consultation which gathered feedback on potential forward-looking metrics for financial institutions. In conjunction with the consultation, the TCFD Portfolio Alignment Team (PAT) issued a report in 2020 titled Measuring Portfolio Alignment: Assessing the Position of Companies and Portfolios on the Path to Net Zero. The report assessed the strengths and trade-offs of the options available when using forward-looking metrics to measure the alignment of financial portfolios with climate goals. The responses to the consultation suggested that some organizations were actively using forward-looking metrics, with more expecting them to be useful going forward, but that many were looking for more clarity on methodology and standardization. Given the findings of the forward-looking metrics consultation the TCFD asked the PAT to conduct further analysis and to: (i) develop technical guidance on emerging best practice as it relates to building portfolio alignment tools and producing forward-looking measurements of financial portfolio alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement; and (ii) identify future research priorities where the field is not yet mature enough to identify best practice. The current document expands on and supersedes the previous PAT report.
The deadline for comments on these documents is 7 July 2021. The TCFD has published a response form.