December 2020 newsletter
In short: The Informal Working Group (IWG) tasked with bringing together a TNFD held their fourth monthly meeting, where the 73 members took stock of progress across four priority areas of action. The Technical Expert Group and the IWG members came together in three additional deep-dive discussion sessions, where topics of discussion included the climate-nature nexus, data and standards.
Highlights of the month
Fourth monthly meeting of the Informal Working Group (IWG)
The 73 members of the IWG met on 10 December. In the meeting, the full group was updated on progress made across each of the four priority areas of action: Governance, Work-plan and Budget, TNFD Resourcing, Communications and Knowledge Management. Each IWG member has been assigned to one of these four workstreams. The workstreams sit alongside the Technical Expert Group (TEG), which is designed to support the IWG.
The Technical Expert Group and the IWG members had three additional deep-dive discussion sessions
Topics of discussion included the climate-nature nexus, data and standards. Through ongoing discussions with the IWG, the TEG is working towards defining the scope of the TNFD, while the four IWG workstreams are focused on defining how the TNFD will deliver
its work.
The IWG Observer Group now totals 67 organisations
Observer Group members receive a monthly summary of the IWG discussions and are given the opportunity to comment on the IWG deliberations. If members of the Observer Group have expertise relevant to the IWG or the TEG, more specific input from the Observers can be requested by the IWG or the TEG.
Opportunities to join initiatives and events
- 12 Jan: Catch up on the finance highlights from the One Planet Summit in this video. French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted the value of disclosure and the TNFD, saying: “With TCFD we managed to shift private finance and we need to do the same with TNFD.” The TNFD is also mentioned in the One Planet Summit metric video.
- 13 Jan: ‘How to finance life on Earth: a high-level discussion with experts in biodiversity finance.’ Join experts for the launch of ‘The Little Book of Investing in Nature’ hosted by the Agence française de développement, Global Canopy and the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
- 19 January: ‘Biodiversity and Finance: Three New Studies’. The Irish Forum on Natural Capital is hosting an event that will showcase international perspectives on business, biodiversity and finance.
- 20 January: ‘Earth’s Assets: Global Blueprints to Scale Nature Investments.’ Hosted by Earth Security, the webinar brings together senior leaders from financial institutions to discuss the action proposals put forward by the report ‘Financing the Earth’s Assets: The case for Mangroves as a Nature-based Climate Solution’.
- 21 January: 2021 Conservation Finance Conference – Nature’s call to action: financing for the future. Credit Suisse is hosting its annual Conservation Finance Conference virtually.
- 26 January: ‘Time for legislation – delivering deforestation-free supply chains’. Hosted by Global Canopy, the event will mark the launch of new data on the deforestation policies of the 500 financial institutions and corporates most influential in forest-risk supply chains. This year’s report is focusing on the finance sector in particular.
- Save the date for 1-5 March: The Economist Group’s World Ocean Summit. Join over 5,000 participants and 130 speakers for action oriented insights into creating a sustainable ocean economy.
Relevant content released this month
- Mongabay (31 December) Companies must account for quality, not just quantity, when it comes to forests. In this commentary, UNDP and Ceres call for investors to assess the quantity and quality of corporate’s forest-related commitments.
- Global Canopy (16 December) Nature and finance: looking forward to 2021. The insight piece highlights five major nature-related developments for financial institutions to keep an eye on in 2021.
- Environmental Finance (10 December) Missing metrics: climate vs nature. In this OpEd, Nicky Chambers, co-chair of the Technical Expert Group of the initiative to bring together a TNFD and Global Canopy’s Programme and Impact Director, sets out how nature and climate differs when it comes to data and metrics.
- Earth Security (10 December) Financing the Earth’s Assets: The case for Mangroves as a Nature-based Climate Solution. The first instalment of a Financing the Earth’s Assets programme, the report quantifies, analyses, and proposes new vehicles to embed the value of mangroves in investment.
- OMFIF (9 December): Central banks go beyond climate. In this interview, Frank Elderson, executive director of supervision at the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), argues that biodiversity loss falls within the mandate of central banks and supervisors.
- European Business and Nature Summit (8-9 December): Recordings are now available from the two-day event, which included the sessions ‘Presentation of the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge’ and ‘Transforming financing: biodiversity, opportunities & risks for the financial sector’.
- Ecosperity (8 December) The Business Case for Natural Climate Solutions: Insights and Opportunities for Southeast Asia. The joint report by Conservation International, DBS Bank, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Temasek highlights opportunities for businesses to invest in natural climate solutions.
- Climate Disclosure Standards Board (7 December) The state of EU environmental disclosure in 2020. This report from on the state of EU environmental disclosures in 2020 finds that 46% of companies referenced biodiversity, 22% provided disclosure on deforestation, and 10% disclosed metrics on biodiversity.
- KPMG (1 December) The time has come – Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2020. This year, reporting on the risks of biodiversity loss was one of four priority themes of the survey. Key findings include that less than one-quarter of at risk companies report on biodiversity.
- Sustainable Insurance Forum (1 December) Biodiversity loss and associated risks to be addressed in new study by UN-convened Sustainable Insurance Forum. The Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF), an IWG member, announced that they are undertaking a scoping study on the financial risks of biodiversity loss. The study will include looking at how insurance supervisors and companies are responding to the risks.
For a longer list of relevant readings released the past years, have a look at the official ‘Bringing together a TNFD’ website: ‘What you can do now.’
TNFD in the news (highlights)
- Current ± (22 December): Current± Predicts: The energy transition in 2021, part four
- Asia Insurance Review (18 December): Global:Nature and climate change risk predicted to be in spotlight in 2021
- The Edge Markets (13 December): Climate and Environmental Governance: Climate action needs nature
- Business Times (10 December): Biodiversity: Business, academia, global bodies must team up
- China Dialogue (10 December): Companies, governments and investors already have the tools to reduce deforestation
- China Dialogue (7 December): ‘Counting nature’: aligning finance with nature’s needs
- Science The Wire (6 December): How Can the World of Finance Help Protect Biodiversity?
- Eco Business (3 December): Asian development banks are most exposed to biodiversity risks
- Bloomberg Quint (3 December): Axa’s De Mailly Nesle Sees Biodiversity Loss Among ‘Very Top Risks’
- Insurance Journal (3 December): AXA’s Chief Risk and Investment Officer Says Biodiversity Loss Among ‘Very Top Risks’
- Comunicarse Web (3 December): BNDES de Brasil y Banorte México entre los 11 miembros que diseñarán el plan para el TNFD
- Forbes (1 December): Businesses Need To Up Their Game On Biodiversity Risks, Urges KPMG Sustainability Report
