TNFD expands capabilities with new Taskforce members, Knowledge and Funding Partners

  • Date Posted

COP 27, Sharm El-Sheikh, 9 November 2022: The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) expands capabilities with new Taskforce members, Knowledge and Funding Partners

  • The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) adds seven new members from leading global organisations to its Taskforce.
  • TNFD also adds two new knowledge partners to the group of leading science organisations and standards bodies supporting TNFD.
  • The Macdoch Foundation has joined the TNFD as a new strategic funding partner and will join the TNFD Stewardship Council.
  • Three new TNFD Consultation Groups have been established: in Brazil, Colombia and France.

New Taskforce members 

To broaden and deepen its global sector coverage and industry expertise, the TNFD has announced today that seven new senior executives from companies and financial institutions around the world will be joining the Taskforce taking the total number of Taskforce members to 40. The new Taskforce members are from Acciona (Infrastructure and Renewable Energy) Spain, Bayer (Chemicals) Germany, Dow (Chemicals) USA, LVMH (Fashion, Consumer Goods) France, Norinchukin Bank (Financial Services) Japan, Swire Properties (Real Estate) Hong Kong SAR, China, and Reckitt (Consumer Goods) UK.   

  • All of the new Taskforce members have been drawn from the TNFD Forum, the broader institutional support base of over 700 institutions now supporting the work of the Taskforce.
  • The new Taskforce members bring to the TNFD’s design and development efforts deep expertise in high nature-risk sectors including agriculture, chemicals, materials, retail, consumer goods, and lifestyle, infrastructure and real estate.
  • Five of the new members have already begun or have completed pilot testing the beta framework released by the TNFD in March of this year. All seven new Members are existing TCFD supporters and Dow is on the TCFD Taskforce.

One existing TNFD Taskforce member, Olam has stepped down from the Taskforce due to a range of internal commitments but fully supports the mission of the TNFD and will continue to contribute as a TNFD Forum member and through pilot testing of the TNFD framework.

With the inclusion of these new Taskforce members, the TNFD now draws on the expertise of senior executives from 18 countries across 5 continents representing a combined asset value of $20.6 trillion.

Co-Chairs, Elizabeth Mrema and David Craig, welcomed the new members: 

“This expansion of the Taskforce is both strategic and timely: enhancing our sector coverage and issue expertise as we work towards the publication of our final recommendations due in September 2023. As we enter the second year of our design work, the Taskforce is now looking forward to defining disclosure metrics and developing additional guidance for a diverse range of future users of the TNFD framework across sectors and geographies.” 

New Knowledge Partners

The TNFD has also announced an expansion of its global network of knowledge partners with the inclusion of NatureFinance and the Center for Global Commons at the University of Tokyo. These two leading international organisations will join the TNFD’s existing network of 16 Knowledge Partners to support the Taskforce in its framework design and development effort.

NatureFinance, previously Finance for Biodiversity, through its Chair Simon Zadek, has been closely involved in the TNFD initiative since its inception. TNFD and NatureFinance are collaborating on a range of framework design aspects, including the relevance of the emerging TNFD framework in sovereign debt markets and on other emerging challenges and opportunities such as biodiversity credit markets.

Professor Naoko Ishii, Director for Center for Global Commons of the University of Tokyo and former Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for Japan and former CEO and Chair of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) said:

“This is a key inflection point for mobilising business and finance to work alongside government in taking concerted action to reverse the acceleration of nature loss globally. The TNFD can be a key lever for change and action. We are delighted to join forces by leveraging the resources of Center for Global Commons together with broader research and business community in Japan to support the ongoing development of the TNFD Framework”

Additional Funding Support: The Macdoch Foundation joins TNFD as a new strategic funding partner

The TNFD has also announced that the Macdoch Foundation has joined the initiative as a new strategic funding partner. It will join the TNFD’s founders and existing government, international organisation and philanthropic funders on the TNFD’s Stewardship Council.

Welcoming the Macdoch Foundation’s support to the Taskforce, TNFD’s Executive Director, Tony Goldner, said:

“TNFD is delighted to have the Macdoch Foundation join our international, cross-sector effort to get business and finance assessing, disclosing and responding to nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. In addition to their funding support, we look forward to benefiting from the Foundation’s expertise and leadership on agriculture and food system transformation work in Australia as the Taskforce continues its work to build out the framework, including guidance for market participants in high nature-risk sectors like agribusiness”.

Michelle Gortan, Chief Executive Officer of the Macdoch Foundation, said:

“The development of a framework that allows corporations to disclose financial information with environmental relevance is about more than big business. The impact on people and communities needs to be at the heart of the decision-making. We want to ensure that those who will be required to supply information are well supported and prepared to operate in this rapidly evolving world”.

Expanding Geographic Coverage: Three new Consultation Groups

Reflecting the growing interest in the work of the TNFD, three new TNFD Consultation Groups have also been established in Brazil, Colombia and France. This brings the total number of consultation groups around the world to nine with other national and regional groups expected to be formed in the future as the TNFD continues to consult market participants on the design of its draft framework and builds the foundations for future market adoption following the release of its recommendations in September 2023.

These three new groups will be convened by leading business and sustainable finance associations in their countries: In Brazil by Conselho Empresarial Brasileiro para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (CEBDS); in Colombia by the Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia (ANDI); and in France by Entreprises pour l’Environnement (EpE) and Finance for Tomorrow (F4T).