Mumbai, Sept. 22: Tata Steel in collaboration with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) organised an outreach programme today with industry experts to discuss and deliberate on how to manage risks and opportunities related to climate change.
The event, held in Mumbai, was attended by eminent people across industry, finance, government and senior members from the Task Force Secretariat.
The session largely showcased the work of the TCFD. It discussed the objectives of the Task Force, the Phase I report, published in March this year that sets out its remit and principles of effective disclosures and how leading companies and investors in India are integrating climate risks and opportunities into their business strategies.
The programme included discussion on the on-going work of the Task Force during its current Phase II. As part of the Phase II work, the Task Force is organising outreach programmes across geographies to raise awareness about the criticality of climate change and its impact on the financial stability of the economy. In addition, it is planning to have bilateral discussions with more than 250 target companies globally to solicit their feedback. The Task Force will publish its Phase II report in December 2016.
Koushik Chatterjee, Group Executive Director (Finance and Corporate), Tata Steel & Member of TCFD said, �The risks and opportunities arising from climate change are important for corporations, financial stakeholders and society.
The time is now right for Indian corporates to rethink business models, business priorities, and business sustainability, and to consider how climate change may affect their short, medium and long-term strategy and goals.
This topic needs to enter the boardrooms of companies so that the impact of climate change is understood. Companies need to take active steps to measure their carbon exposure, draw up plans to reduce their footprint and communicate their strategies to shareholders and financial stakeholders for better governance and allocation of capital.”
Curtis Ravenel, Global Head, Sustainable Business & Finance, Bloomberg LP said, �India is an extremely important FSB and G20 member.
Given the size of the market and the scale of opportunity for Indian companies to address climate change, it is extremely important for the Task Force to engage Indian companies and financial institutions � both to communicate our work but more importantly incorporate the unique perspective of Indian business leaders like our Task Force member Koushik Chatterjee of Tata Steel.�