Rabobank and Robeco among leading banks and companies to set up a Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures

Efforts to establish a Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) have today passed an important milestone with the announcement of an Informal Working Group (IWG) comprising some of the world’s biggest banks (including Rabobank), investors (including Robeco) and companies, as well as governments and regulatory bodies.

The 62 members that make up the IWG are part of the initial planning phase of the TNFD, tasked with establishing a detailed work plan for the Task Force for when it launches in 2021.

A TNFD will build awareness and capacity to enable the financial sector to address the market and systemic failures contributing to the destruction of nature. Data gaps currently prevent financial institutions from assessing their nature-related risks, the IWG will be discussing how to bridge this gap, enabling global finance to shift from nature negative to nature positive.

At the Business of Finance Day at the Nature for Life Hub, Bérangère Abba, French Secretary of State, Ministry for Ecological Transition, announced the IWG and its commitments to the creation of a Task Force and an international reporting standard that is critical for halting biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

Bérangère Abba said: “Biodiversity finance is the new frontier of green finance. Nature requires as much ambition and collective effort as it has been done for climate so far, and the private sector can play a crucial part in redirecting financial flows. We are convinced that the work of the Task-force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, or “TNFD”, will accelerate the understanding of these issues and will ultimately lead to both a reduction in financial flows and economic activities that are harmful to biodiversity and a massive redirection of flows towards activities that are favourable to biodiversity.”

Madeleine Ronquest, Head Environmental, Social and Climate Risk at FirstRand Group Enterprise Risk Management (South Africa), said: “The launch of the Informal Working Group (IWG) for the TNFD is a significant step towards the goal of moving the global financial system from nature negative to nature positive.  I look forward to working with the IWG members to shape and implement the Task Force that will help to make this transition possible.

Loss of nature is increasingly impacting business performance. Consumers, stakeholders and governments expect business to take actions which halt the loss of nature. WBCSD supports the launch of the TNFD which will help companies consistently and credibly assess, address and report their impacts and dependencies on nature”, added Diane Holdorf, Managing Director & Senior Management Team, World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The IWG will meet on a monthly basis and will be supported by a Technical Expert Group (TEG), which is currently in the final stages of formation. The TEG will serve at the direction of the IWG and support the working group in articulating the scope and objectives for the TNFD; the group will be made up of individuals with representative expertise and overview of relevant sources for biodiversity data and tools for assessing nature-related investment risk.

The full list of Informal Working Group members

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS & PRIVATE FIRMS

  1. AFD: Agence Française de Développement, France

  2. Aggrego Consultores, Brazil

  3. AXA, France

  4. BPCE/Natixis, France

  5. BNP Paribas, France

  6. BP, UK

  7. Banco del Progreso, Alcaldía de Cúcuta, Colombia

  8. Banco Sudameris, Paraguay

  9. Banorte, Mexico

  10. CAF: Latin America Development Bank

  11. Citi, USA

  12. Credit Suisse, Switzerland

  13. Danske Bank, Denmark

  14. DBS Bank, Singapore

  15. EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

  16. EcoAdvisors, Canada

  17. Ernst & Young, USA

  18. FAMA Investimentos, Brazil

  19. FirstRand Group, South Africa

  20. GlaxoSmithKline Plc, UK

  21. HSBC Pollination Climate Asset Management

  22. IFC: International Finance Corporation

  23. Impax Asset Management, UK

  24. ISS ESG: Institutional Shareholder Services Inc, USA

  25. KPMG

  26. Lloyds Banking Group, UK

  27. Manulife Investment Management

  28. Maua Capital, Brazil

  29. Mirova, France

  30. NatWest Group, UK

  31. PIMCO, USA

  32. Rabobank, Netherlands

  33. Robeco, The Netherlands

  34. Standard Chartered, UK

  35. Storebrand Asset Management, Norway

  36. Wells Fargo Asset Management, US

  37. World Bank

  38. YES BANK, India

  39. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, Japan

GOVERNMENTS & REGULATORY/SUPERVISORY BODIES

  1. CNBV: Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, México

  2. COFEMA: Federal Council for the Environment of Argentina

  3. Government of France

  4. Government of Peru

  5. Government of Switzerland

  6. Government of the United Kingdom

THINK TANKS & CONSORTIA

  1. CEBDS: Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development

  2. CDSB: Climate Disclosure Standards Board

  3. CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity

  4. CEDAF, Dominican Republic

  5. CIFAL Argentina

  6. Ecoacsa, Spain

  7. FC4S: Financial Centers for Sustainability

  8.  SIF: Sustainable Insurance Forum

  9. Finance for Tomorrow

  10. GEF: Global Environment Facility

  11. IIF: Institute of International Finance

  12. IIGF: International Institute of Green Finance, China

  13. OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

  14. PRI: Principles for Responsible Investment

  15. SusCon Japan

  16. WBCSD: World Business Council for Sustainable Development

  17. WEF: World Economic Forum

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