TCFD Knowledge Hub

Following the release of the TCFD second status report this June, we analyzed TCFD supporters’ disclosure around climate change using natural language processing, finding that financial services are talking about climate change more than ever before.

In particular:
1) The number of finserv TCFD supporters mentioning climate change with a high emphasis has more than doubled from 14% in 2016, the year before the TCFD recommendations were published, to 33% in 2019.

2) Climate change is predominantly discussed through a risk rather than an opportunity lense – with 54% of finserv TCFD supporters referring to the topic in relation to risk and 20% in relation to opportunity in 2018.

3) Interestingly, climate change has been predominantly mentioned in the context of distant future risks, rather than in recognizing the upcoming implications to business.

4) High emphasis reporting among the largest financial services companies that don’t support the TCFD (market capitalization above $20bn) has risen from 12% in 2017 to 19% in 2019, the period since the introduction of the TCFD recommendations.

5) The number of climate-related regulations and voluntary initiatives has almost doubled since 2014 (211 between 2009 and 2013, and 418 between 2014 and 2018).