A task force of the Basel, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board has issued its phase 2 report containing recommendations on voluntary financial climate-related disclosures, which could affect banks both as preparers and as users of public disclosures.
Among the recommendations is the disclosure of potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on an organization’s businesses, strategies and financial planning under different potential scenarios, including a scenario in which global average temperatures increase by two degrees Celsius. The task force also recommends that banks integrate processes for identifying, assessing and managing climate-related risks both internally and with respect to the banks’ customers.
These recommendations have not been formulated into guidance by U.S. regulators. ABA staff will continue to monitor developments on this issue in the U.S., paying particular attention to potential legal and regulatory risks based on subjective assessments of climate-related risks.
Comments on the recommendations are due February 12, 2017. Through the International Banking Federation, ABA provided overall comments to the phase 1 report, which focused on developing the scope and objectives for work on a set of fundamental disclosure principles. For more information, contact ABA’s Barry Mills or Mike Gullette.