The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has been announced as convener for the Australian and New Zealand Consultation Group for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
The TNFD was established in 2020 to enable corporates and financial institutions to assess and disclose on nature-related risks and opportunities.
More than half of global economic output is dependent on biodiversity and ecosystem services. The TNFD aims to shift global financial flows away toward nature-positive outcomes.
At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this week, the TNFD announced three new stakeholder consultation initiatives. This includes a consultation group to help Australia and New Zealand to expand outreach and engagement.
New initiatives include:
- six consultation groups in ANZ, India, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK
- four piloting program partnerships with Financial Sector Deepening Africa, Global Canopy, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- engagement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities globally in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature
RIAA has been announced as convener for the ANZ consultation group.
The consultation group will bring together business, finance, public sector and civil society organisations to develop a framework on nature-related business and finance issues.
The RIAA has an established interest in the TNFD through its Nature Working Group and partnerships with the Australian government department of agriculture, water and the environment.
Chief executive officer of the RIAA, Simon O’Connor, said that developing a TNFD framework is vital for investors to understand and avoid nature-related financial risks, and there are growing calls for such a framework.
“As we have seen with the successful adoption of the TNFD’s earlier climate equivalent, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, a reporting framework is vital for investors understanding the nature-related risks in their portfolios and mitigating these.
“There is strong momentum in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to better account for and value assets on the basis of nature-related risks and how they are managed.
“RIAA’s convening of investors through our Nature Working Group and now through the TNFD are critical elements in building investor capacity and ultimately, protecting our natural capital. This is of utmost importance to our investor members, and the Australian and New Zealand economies.”
Final recommendations for the TNFD framework are set to come out in September 2023.