The Building Blocks – Connecting CDP data with the CDSB Framework to successfully fulfil the TCFD Recommendations

29 July 2020News

More than 1000 organisations have declared their support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. However, there is still confusion in the market regarding where companies can get the data from and how to properly report it. To provide this solution, CDP and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) have teamed up to produce the building blocks for effective TCFD-aligned disclosure using CDP data and the CDSB Framework.

TCFD-aligned disclosures should not be seen as novel or daunting, as is often perceived by the market. The good news is that most companies already have the data that they need readily available to make TCFD disclosures. After all, over 8000 companies, including the majority of the world’s largest, disclosed to CDP through its climate change questionnaire in 2019. While the information provided in a CDP response covers much of the same ground as the TCFD recommendations, it is essential for these material climate-related financial disclosures to be included in the mainstream report to meet the expectations and recommendations of the TCFD.

The release of this practical guidance comes at a time when the move to mandatory TCFD disclosure is becoming increasingly more likely. Regulators and companies in regions such as the EU, UK, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Canada are already acting to prioritise and price climate-related risks throughout their financial systems by means of mainstream disclosure.

This paper highlights the most relevant CDP climate change questions and explains how this information can be best used for reporting in the mainstream report using CDSB’s reporting principles and requirements, clearly setting out for companies the how and what of making effective climate-related financial disclosure. The paper further offers an illustrative list of TCFD-relevant questions from CDP’s forests and water security questionnaires.

Structure of the paper:

Purpose and background for disclosing climate-related financial information
The four TCFD recommendations and the most relevant CDP climate change questions and corresponding CDSB reporting principles and requirements
Important considerations in preparing your TCFD disclosures for the mainstream report

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