Policy Brief, Sustainability Reporting

PB 3/2022: Raising transparency through TCFD-aligned climate reporting

The availability of consistent and comparable climate-related information is a decisive factor in considering the effects of climate change for business and investment decisions.
The recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) have emerged as a global reference for climate reporting and enjoy widespread support from private and public organizations around the world.
While the number of official TCFD supporters is considerable, voluntary disclosure has not yet achieved the intended level of transparency.
The biggest reporting gaps exist in the use of climate scenarios and the integration of climate risks into overall risk management.
Recently, few governments have announced mandatory disclosure obligations to foster more standardized and comprehensive climate reporting.
Germany and other countries should intensify efforts – notably, in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) context – towards mandatory climate disclosure requirements in order to raise transparency on the impacts of climate risks and opportunities.

Authors

Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen
University of Hamburg
E-Mail: alexander.bassen@uni-hamburg.de
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Prof. Dr. Timo Busch
University of Hamburg
E-Mail: timo.busch@uni-hamburg.de
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Prof. Dr. Christian Klein
University of Kassel
E-Mail: klein@uni-kassel.de
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Dr. Lisa Scheitza
University of Hamburg
E-Mail: lisa.scheitza@uni-hamburg.de
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Prof. Dr. Kerstin Lopatta
University of Hamburg
E-Mail: kerstin.lopatta@uni-hamburg.de
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