Resource Database

On 14 October 2020, global and EU experts explored the increasing need for the finance sector to develop new capabilities through relevant education and training in green finance principles and practice at joint ACCA-Green Finance Platform online event.

CFOs and finance function professionals may perceive sustainable business initiatives and reporting as outside the scope of their external reporting responsibilities and too burdensome. As a result, this work has fallen on a separate, sustainable business or corporate responsibility team outside the CFO function. Members of the finance function, however, have unique and critical skills to contribute to make the work of the sustainable business team more complete, accurate, and business-relevant. Establishing an internal partnership allows the corporate finance and accounting team to serve as business partners for improved decision making across the enterprise.

Climate Risk is a complex topic for the Banking Industry, combining social and environmental aspects, and two distinct concepts of physical and transition risk. Several months of research have led to the identification of challenges that are impairing the sector from addressing this complex topic and effectively transitioning to ‘Greener’ financing models.

Thinking about ways to remediate these challenges, the conclusion was that one of the key success factors was to involve international authorities and regulations. The 7 principles described in this document propose a novel approach to do so.

The 2020 edition of the World Water Development Report entitled ‘Water and Climate Change’ aims at helping the water community to tackle the challenges of climate change and informing the climate change community about the opportunities that improved water management offers in terms of adaptation and mitigation.

The scientific evidence is clear: the climate is changing and will continue to change, affecting societies mainly through water. Climate change will affect the availability, quality and quantity of water for basic human needs, threatening the effective enjoyment of the human rights to water and sanitation for potentially billions of people. The alteration of the water cycle will also pose risks for energy production, food security, human health, economic development and poverty reduction, thus seriously jeopardizing the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The 2020 United Nations World Water Development Report focuses on the challenges, opportunities and potential responses to climate change, in terms of adaptation, mitigation and improved resilience that can be addressed through improving water management.

Climate change may affect financial statements of cities in several different ways. Uncertainties about climate-related risks and events may have implications for a city’s cash flows, assets, liabilities, reserves, revenue streams, and cost of capital.

This paper outlines the top 10 risks to mining and metal companies, including the challenges associated with changes in energy mix.

This study develops a new methodology to conduct an energy transition risk stress test for financial institutions and applies it to the financial system of the Netherlands. The stress test is conducted by analyzing four severe but plausible energy transition scenarios. Each scenario is first translated into an impact on key macroeconomic variables and then disaggregated to a industry specific impacts by using industry-specific Transition Vulnerability Factors. The stress test results suggest that the losses for financial institutions in the event of a disruptive energy transition could be sizeable, but also manageable. Individual financial institutions can mitigate the risks for their portfolio by taking energy transition risks into account. In addition, policy makers can help to avoid unnecessary losses by implementing timely, reliable and effective climate policies. As stress testing energy transition risks is a relatively new field of study, future work could help to further refine the results.

CPA Canada sat down with Diane Larsen, partner at EY, to discuss her experience as an auditor and member of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Diane Larsen is a partner in EY’s Global Professional Practice with more than 30 years’ experience. Her role as an audit partner affords her a unique perspective on the TCFD. This interview gives a better understanding on how climate-related issues may impact financial statement audits and why it is important for auditors to understand the risk management and performance implications related to climate change.

Guidance on how to start thinking about climate scenario analysis – a key recommendation in the Strategy section of the recommendations.

Companies listed on a Japanese stock exchange must comply with the Corporate Governance Code. This code establishes the principles for good corporate governance, including transparency, risk management, and the responsibility of companies to take appropriate measure to address sustainability issues (Principle 2.3).

This document provides readers with insights into the methodologies that Carbon Delta employs to assess climate change risks and opportunities within corporations.

This technical note provides an overview of climate-related scenario analysis, key considerations (as identified by the TCFD) and how CDP has incorporated this into their questionnaires.