The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) announced that more than 500 companies and financial institutions have committed to begin nature-related corporate reporting, based on the TNFD recommendations.

The announcement, made at the COP16 Biodiversity Conference, marks a significant increase in committed TNFD-aligned reporting entities from 320 companies earlier this year, advancing efforts to establish standardized reporting on nature-related governance, strategy, risk management and targets. The companies have all committed to begin the adoption of adopting the TNFD recommendations and to publish TNFD-aligned disclosures as part of their annual corporate reporting for fiscal years 2024 or 2025.

The commitments follow the publication in September 2023 by the TNFD of its final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure, following a a two-year process, beginning with the formation of the TNFD in June 2021, building on the success of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

The TNFD’s recommendations are also contributing to the development of a broader system of sustainability disclosure standards. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) of the IFRS Foundation, for example, announced earlier this year plans to launch new projects researching corporate disclosure in areas including biodiversity and ecosystems, and that it will consider the work of the TNFD in its efforts, and CDP has said that it plans to reflect the TNFD framework in its environmental reporting questionnaire, and the GRI said that its recently launched Biodiversity Standard was formed in collaboration with the TNFD.

Among the new companies announcing their commitments highlighted by the TNFD include KPMG, abrdn, Freeport-McMoRan, Qantas, Tokyo Electric Power, and Manulife Investment Management.

In all, 502 companies representing more than $6.5 trillion in market capitalization have committed to TNFD-aligned reporting, including 129 financial institutions representing $17.7 trillion in assets under management, and including 25% of the world’s systemically important banks (GSIBs). TNFD reporting commitments include companies from across 54 jurisdictions, including 25 emerging markets, and 62 of 77 SASB SICS sectors.

David Craig, Co-Chair of the TNFD, said:

“The speed of voluntary market adoption over the past year since the release of the TNFD recommendations highlights the growing appreciation among companies and financial institutions across sectors and geographies that nature is a material risk issue for their business and a new source of opportunity and potential competitive advantage. We have seen significant uptake across sectors – in particular from asset managers, as they address climate and nature risk in their portfolios.”

Image source: TNFD