Key Changes to the 2018 CDP Water Security Questionnaire Posted February 21, 2018 by Zoey Kriete With the release of the 2018 CDP Water Security questionnaire, CDP continues to raise the bar on water stewardship disclosure and performance. This year, CDP has made a number of modifications to the questionnaire including an updated title in response to changing trends in sustainability reporting and increasing investor interest in value chain risks and opportunities. The latter has been driven by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations released in June 2017 which are designed to “help firms understand what financial markets want from disclosure in order to measure and respond to climate change risks and encourage firms to align their disclosures with investors’ needs.”[1] From Cape Town, South Africa to Sao Paulo, Brazil, we are witnessing unprecedented, sustained drought in densely populated areas of the world. Companies can no longer rely on consistent availability of potable water in many areas of the world. To ensure business Read More
FIVE SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2018 Posted February 8, 2018 by Jordan Chamberlain What’s in store for 2018? We’ve highlighted five trends we expect to see in the coming year. We hope this summary helps keep a pulse on what’s new and inspires you to further explore these and other emerging trends. Increased transparency around the financial risks posed by climate change The potential scale of risk to assets is generating growing global investor concern and driving demands that climate change risks be assessed and disclosed in a measurable and consistent way. Increasingly, some of the largest investment houses in the world – including Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street – are setting policies to support shareholder demands for greater transparency. In June 2017, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) issued recommendations for reporting on the financial risks from climate change. The recommendations guide organizations to look at both physical risks (e.g., wildfires, sea-level rise and extreme storm events) and transitional risks (e.g., Read More
2018 CDP Climate Change Questionnaire: Influence of the TCFD and other Key Changes Posted January 8, 2018 by Zoey Kriete Following the financial crisis in the late 2000’s, the G20 established the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to identify and mitigate threats to the global financial system. In 2015 the FSB, led by New York City’s former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and comprised of members from global banking institutions, insurance companies, institutional investors, industrial and consumer products companies and experts on financial accounting and public disclosure, created the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The Task Force was developed in direct response to a: belief that climate change represents a growing systemic threat; lack of high-quality, consistent financial information related to the potential risks and opportunities associated with climate change; and growing need for transparency in company valuation and the ability to assess the risks organizations are facing. After numerous rounds of input, the TCFD published a set of recommendations in June 2017 to “help firms understand what financial markets want Read More
