Hundreds of businesses to adopt Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ recommendations

The UK, despite its global standing, ranks among the most nature-depleted nations.

Unveiled at a briefing at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday (16 January), the TNFD confirmed that 320 organisations across a variety of sectors and countries have aligned themselves with the disclosures framework.

The TNFD recommendations intend to mitigate the industrial impact on nature by encouraging comprehensive reporting on businesses’ environmental footprint and properly integrating nature-related considerations in their strategies. In turn, this gives investors access to better-quality data.

The 320 organisations come from 46 countries and represent $4trn in market capitalisation. More than 100 financial institutions have signed on, representing $14trn in Assets under Management (AUM) as well as banks, insurers and other leading market intermediaries such as stock exchanges and audit and accounting firms.

Notable companies pledging to adopt the recommendations include Bank of America, BBC, GSK, Holcim, IKEA, Kering, OVO, PwC, Sony, Suzano and Veolia.

The organisations have pledged to start adopting TNFD recommendations and publishing aligned disclosures in annual corporate reporting for 2023, 2024 and 2025 financial years.

The TNFD’s co-chair and deputy executive director of the UN Environment Programme, Elizabeth Mrema said: “Twelve months ago the world came together to agree to the Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse nature loss, including a specific target on corporate reporting.  The release of the TNFD recommendations in September last year provided the tools to do that and today we have seen the market commit to start taking action”.

TNFD: Need to know

After two years of design and development, the TNFD unveiled its 14 recommended disclosures and a suite of additional implementation guidance at Climate Week NYC on 18 September 2023.

The 14 reporting recommendations encompass guidelines for revealing nature-related impacts, risks, and dependencies throughout the entire value chain. Similar to the framework presented by the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), these recommendations involve assessing risk in a range of future scenarios.

Through alignment with the TNFD’s disclosure requirements, companies will provide information in a standardised manner to stakeholders, including regulators and investors.

Prior to today’s announcement, several businesses, including Natura&Co, Holcim and Reckitt, had been trialling TNFD adoption in private using a string of beta versions. All have agreed to formally adopt the recommendations today.

Businesses will not simply be encouraged to measure their impacts. The framework should compel them to set science-based targets and properly embed nature-related considerations in their strategies. The Science-Based Targets Network’s standards for businesses were notably launched in May.

The framework also draws on other relevant standards including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) – which is now overseeing the TCFD – and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), both of which were knowledge partners to the TNFD.

Read more: Nature meets business: What does the TNFD mean for the private sector?