TCFD Knowledge Hub

Audit committees are critically important to effective climate governance. While the board of directors has responsibility for oversight of the company’s strategic planning, business plan, risk management, and integrity of its public disclosures, its audit committee is commonly delegated responsibility to undertake detailed scrutiny and oversight of financial reporting processes, including the company’s financial statements. The audit committee thus has a key role in determining how the company’s strategies and financial results are communicated to investors, regulators, and other stakeholders. Given the growing direct and indirect financial impacts of climate change, directors have a duty to adopt a climate action strategy to tackle what Canadian courts have called ‘an existential threat to human civilization and the global ecosystem’.