Sustainable investors have praised the work of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and welcomed the release of its final recommendations but have stressed that the journey to implementing these disclosures starts now.
The TNFD has published its final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure during New York Climate Week, alongside additional guidance to help market participants get started with integrating assessment and corporate reporting related to nature.
Anita de Horde, executive director of Finance for Biodiversity Foundation said the recommendations represent a “big step forward” for financial institutions that have been eager for more comprehensive data on the environmental impact of the companies they finance.
As it stands there is a “vital need for robust data” at the ground level, said Dr Kat Bruce, founder director of NatureMetrics, adding that without new solutions, businesses will “lack the information to demonstrate tangible outcomes for nature – or to refine and optimise approaches. This information needs to flow right through the value chain to influence decision-making and improve accountability at all levels”.
Most businesses are fundamentally nature-negative even though every business is dependent on nature, Guy Williams, executive director at Pollination, pointed out, so the sooner they can get to grips with their nature-related dependencies and start to reduce their impact on nature, the better.
“So the launch of the TNFD’s final recommendations should be celebrated – and a huge amount of progress has been made to get us to this point – but among the celebrations, it must be remembered that this is only the start,” he said.
Getting started
To achieve this, companies can use the guidance provided and “get started on disclosing”, Charlotte Apps, sustainable investing associate at Fidelity International, said, adding the recommendations mark an “important milestone” in helping address nature loss.
Rashila Kerai, biodiversity specialist at Robeco, echoed the encouragement from the sustainable investment industry that “all companies use the guidelines”.
Some companies, such as GSK, have already announced a commitment to publishing its first TNFD disclosures from 2026, based on 2025 data. Others are anticipated to signal similar intentions in the coming weeks and the TNFD will announce an inaugural list of TNFD adopters at the World Economic Forum at Davos in January 2024.
To make things easier for corporates, environmental disclosure platform CDP has also announced its intention to align with the TNFD, which will start to be reflected in its disclosure system from 2024.
“This alignment will be critical in implementing the TNFD framework across the global economy, increasing harmonisation, enabling access to standardised data, reducing the reporting burden on companies and paving the way for robust regulation on nature-related disclosure,” said Nicolette Bartlett, chief impact officer at CDP.
“The TNFD framework will enable CDP to further accelerate our incorporation of more environmental topics by providing a robust set of good practice indicators on areas such as oceans and land. By working together, we will accelerate disclosure and action on nature across the economy.”