April 2021 Update - Taskforce on Nature-related Financial ...

4 May 2021 at 14:21

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                                            4 May 2021

                      April 2021 Update
   In short: The four workstreams of the Informal Working Group finalise
documents, the informal Technical Expert Group finalises scope of the TNFD,
 and the UN Deputy Secretary-General endorses the TNFD, remarking it will
                    ‘catalyse shifting of financial flows’.

                                  Highlights of the month
The four workstreams of the Informal Working Group (IWG) finalise documents
Over the last seven months, the 74 members of the Informal Working Group (IWG) have
been working across four different workstreams: WS1 Governance, leadership and
membership, WS2 Work Plan and Budget, WS3 Resourcing, and WS4 Advocacy and
Communication. Additionally, an informal Technical Expert Group that supports the IWG
has been working on the TNFD scope (see below). The workstreams are in the last stretch
of finalising their recommendations from the IWG to the TNFD itself, which will launch later
this year. The consolidated recommendations from the workstreams will be presented to the
incoming TNFD Chair/s in the TNFD blueprint. Furthermore, preparation for transitioning
from IWG to the TNFD is under way.

The IWG’s informal Technical Expert Group finalise the scope for the TNFD Alongside
the four workstreams of the IWG, a fifth workstream tasked with defining the scope of TNFD
is led by the IWG’s informal Technical Expert Group. The 12 technical experts that make up
the group have now finalised the draft paper of the scope, after a round of productive
stakeholder consultations this spring with the Observer Group and further deep dives with
corporates, standards groups, financial institutions, data providers and NGOs. This week
the IWG is in the midst of reviewing the scope.

UN Deputy Secretary-General endorses the TNFD
Speaking at the High-Level event on Raising Ambition for Nature, UN Deputy Secretary-
General Amina Mohammed said: “We are also supporting the establishment of the
Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures. Working with many financial institutions,
businesses and Member States, this Taskforce will catalyse shifting of financial flows, so
they become nature-positive.” You can watch the full event recording here. In September
2020, the UN Secretary General also voiced his support for the TNFD.

Knowledge Bank on the new TNFD website continues to expand
The new website hosts an ever-expanding Knowledge Bank with lots of resources relevant
to the TNFD initiative, as well as an events page highlighting the events that address nature
and finance, amongst other new interactive features. Get in touch to share relevant events
or cutting-edge tools and resources on nature and finance by emailing enquiries@tnfd.info.

Join the TNFD conversation on social media
To stay up to date with the latest news, follow us on Twitter @TNFD_ and LinkedIn
@Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) .

                       Opportunities to join initiatives and events

      11 May: PRI Digital Forum: Joining the dots: Investor action on Climate and Nature.
      Speakers - including Margaret Kuhlow, WWF Global Finance Practice Lead - will
      draw together climate change and biodiversity loss as two critically important topics
      and highlight some of the approaches investors can take to achieve progress on both
      fronts.
      11-
        1-12 May Valuing Nature: Better Assessing Financial Risk. During this workshop,
      participants will detail how science-based data can augment traditional risk systems
      to provide insights for the sustainable financing of natural capital. Dr. Susanne
      Schmitt and David Patterson from WWF UK are among the speakers.
      20 May: Briefing Afternoon: Biodiversity. Environmental Finance is hosting a briefing
      afternoon event, which will consider the main challenges for valuing and preserving
      nature when making investment decisions.
      26 May: Aligning Financial Portfolios with Biodiversity Goals. Join Global Canopy,
      UNEP FI and UNEP WCMC for the launch of a new biodiversity module – part of the
      online ENCORE tool – which will enable financial institutions to identify and manage
      biodiversity-related risks and opportunities.

26-27 May: Positive Banking Conference: Banking for People and Planet. The
conference will include a session on the TNFD. You can see the agenda, speakers
and register here.
27 May: BusinessGreen Net Zero Nature. Speakers include Rhian-Mari Thomas, co-
chair of the IWG and CEO of the Green Finance Institute; Eric Usher, Head of UNEP
FI; Tanya Steele, Chief Executive of WWF UK; and Sir Partha Dasgupta, lead author
of the Dasgupta Review of the Economics of Biodiversity. You can see the full
speaker line up and agenda here.
Save the date: 17-18 June: The Financial Sector and the Post-2020 Global
Biodiversity Framework. The virtual event will be hosted by the Secretariat of the
Convention on Biological Diversity. You can register here.
New date announced: 11-24 October: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
COP15. Originally scheduled for 2020 and since postponed to May 2021, the global
UN Biodiversity Conference has been moved again: the event is now planned for
11-24 October 2021 in Kunming, China.

                     Relevant content released this month

WWF (April 29) Introducing SUSREG: A framework for sustainable financial
regulation and central bank activity. This report introduces a framework to support
central banks, financial regulators and supervisors in enhancing the financial sector’s
stability and resilience to climate-related and broader environmental and social risks.
OMFIF Sustainable Policy Institute (29 April) Designing a financial system that
responds to the climate threat and promotes a healthy planet. In this podcast,
Margaret Kuhlow, WWF’s Global Finance Practice Lead, discusses how finance can
be a powerful tool for addressing climate change and how biodiversity considerations
and ecosystem services can be at the forefront of risk assessments and investment
impact metrics.
Environmental Finance (28 April) Make nature-related financial disclosures
mandatory, says Hank Paulson. The article summarises comments from Hank
Paulson, former US Treasury Secretary, former chairman and CEO of Goldman
Sachs and founder of the Paulson Institute, calling for stronger government action on
nature, especially linked to public subsidies and disclosure requirements.
Fitch Ratings (28 April) Collaboration and Standardisation Key to Halting
Biodiversity Loss. This short article argues stronger coordination across all
stakeholders is needed to tackle biodiversity loss and highlights TNFD as an
instrumental initiative to achieve this.
Fitch Ratings (28 April) ESG in Credit – Biodiversity and Waste Issues. The report
focuses on biodiversity and waste issues and how they translate into credit issues
and potentially materialise as credit risks.
Environmental Finance (27 April) Greening sovereign debt. In this OpEd, Simon
Zadek, Co-chair of the Technical Expert Group of the initiative bringing together a
TNFD, argues that sovereign debt markets need to better reflect the impact of
natural capital on nations' productivity and resilience.

BusinessGreen (23 April) LEAF Coalition: UK joins US, Norway, and top corporates
to launch $1bn tropical forest protection drive. Launched at President Biden’s
Leaders Summit on Climate, the new Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest
finance (LEAF) Coalition aims to mobilize at least US$1 billion in financing in public-
private efforts to protect tropical forests.
S&P (23 April) Natural Capital and Biodiversity: Reinforcing Nature as an Asset. In
this report, the ratings agency sets out the challenge of biodiversity loss and how
companies and financial institutions can respond. You can watch an interview
discussing the report here.
London School of Economics (22 April) Exploring the links between biodiversity
loss and financial stability. In this blog, part of a Sustainable Finance Leadership
series, describe the need for a systematic approach by central banks and financial
supervisors to biodiversity and outline the role for a new study group launched by the
NGFS and INSPIRE.
Environmental Finance (22 April) Your top investment questions about biodiversity,
answered. The article answers the top questions investors ask about biodiversity,
including questions around measurement, disclosure and impact assessments. WWF
(21 April) Farming with Biodiversity, Towards Nature-Positive Production at Scale.
The report focuses on transforming production practices at the farm and landscape
level, as well as structural transformations at the food system level to support this,
outlining changes needed to create food systems that support rather than exploit
nature.
Forbes (17 April) Planetary Emergency, Central Banks And Financial Institutions.
The article reviews how central banks and financial institutions could contribute to
positive outcomes for biodiversity.
Bloomberg Green (17 April) UN Summit to Seek Support From Bankers to Stem
Biodiversity Loss. The article explains what to expect from the upcoming global
biodiversity summit later this year, and its relevance for financial institutions. Finance
for Biodiversity Initiative (9 April) Debt and Biodiversity: A Chinese Leadership
Opportunity. The report sets out the opportunity for China to engage in developments
linking debt and biodiversity.
Environmental Finance (1 April) Banque de France creates climate change centre,
assesses biodiversity impact. The article describes how and why the French central
bank has conducted a study of the biodiversity impact of its investment portfolios for
the first time.
Finance for Biodiversity Pledge (1 April) Overview of Biodiversity Initiatives for
Finance. The signatories of the Finance for Biodiversity Pledge, together with UNEP
FI, the PRI and the Finance@Biodiversity Community, have created an overview of
the main biodiversity-related initiatives developed for financial institutions.

           For more relevant content and tools, visit our new Knowledge Bank.

TNFD in the news (highlights)

World Economic Forum (27 April) Ensuring supply chains are deforestation-free is
still a priority. This is why.
Guadapress (25 April) La Cumbre de Biden marca el inicio de un año decisivo para
la acción climática.
CNN Business (22 April) 5 ways businesses can be more aggressive about climate
change.
Cambio16 (22 April) En el Día de la Tierra pedimos medidas sólidas contra el
cambio climático.
Nikkei Business (14 April) 国連開発計画総裁「人類は失敗を深く認識しなければな
りません」
ESG Investor (14 April) Managers Need to be More Hands-on with Data.
Advisorpedia (9 April) Biodiversity Is the Next 'Climate' for Investors.
Nikkei Business Daily (5 April) 欧州先行の「自然資本」枠組み 生物多様性テー
マ、金融も参画
Irish Times (2 April) Sustainability: some top trends

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