The task force formed to create a set of voluntary climate-risk disclosure recommendations has more than doubled the number of companies supporting its mission in the five months since it first published its findings.
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) now has 237 companies with a combined market capitalization of more than $6.3 trillion that have publicly committed to its goals, according to its head, Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and entrepreneur.
The TCFD was established by the group of global regulators known as the Financial Stability Board, chaired by Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney, and published its recommendations in June with the aim of encouraging companies to help investors understand the risks to their investments from temperature change, rising sea levels and natural disasters.
The companies that have signed up include more than 150 financial firms with assets of more than $81.7 trillion, the TCFD said in a statement released at the One Planet Summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. The summit marks the two-year anniversary of the Paris Climate agreement, which seeks to limit the global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius by reducing greenhouse emissions. President Donald Trump has pledged to pull the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, dismaying climate activists but spurring a greater effort from the private sector to push through its goals without government help. Insurers have said anything higher than a 2 degree-temperature increase would make the world uninsurable.
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The companies span a broad range of industries and sectors, from construction to consumer goods, energy, metals and mining, as well as the full capital and investment chain, from companies that issue debt and equity to the largest credit rating agencies and stock exchanges. The list includes Bank of America Corp. BAC, -0.94% , BlackRock Inc. BLK, -0.82% , Citigroup Inc. C, -0.89% JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, -0.79% , Morgan Stanley MS, -0.34% and investors including the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, among others.
“Climate change poses both economic risks and opportunities,” said Bloomberg. “But right now, companies don’t have the data they need to accurately measure the risks and evaluate the opportunities. That prevents them from taking protective measures and identifying sustainable investments that could have strong returns.”
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The movement won a victory late Monday, when energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM, -0.45% said it would disclose details on how climate change may affect its business, bowing to pressure from shareholders who voted 62% in favor of a resolution on climate change at its annual shareholder meeting this year.
There was more good news when French insurer Axa AXA, -0.22% said it would pull €2.4 billion ($2.8 billion) from the coal industry, shed all investment in oil sands and no longer insure new projects in either sector, as The Wall Street Journal reported. Dutch lender ING INGA, -0.31% ING, -0.27% said it would cut its exposure to coal power to zero by 2025 and the World Bank said it would no longer finance upstream oil and gas after 2019.
That comes after Norway’s sovereign fund said recently it is recommending to its government a divestment from fossil fuels.
Companies are expected to start making the first disclosures in the coming year and the TCFD will report on their progress this time next year at the G-20 summit in Argentina, said Carney.
The task force is also planning to launch a web-based platform to further support companies that are interested in implementing its recommendations. The TCFD Knowledge Hub will go live in the first quarter and be available via 222.tcfdhub.org.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.52% has gained 19% in 2017, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.48% has gained 24%.