The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) has launched an online “Knowledge Hub” aimed at helping companies to implement its recommendations.

The hub provides companies with resources on how to integrate climate management in their business, disclose climate information, and become resilient against risks arising from transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

Simon Messenger, managing director at the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), which also backed the Knowledge Hub launch, said that while a full embedding of the guidance into a business’ corporate governance and business model could take several years, it was critical for businesses as investors would assess the climate-risk profile of companies in their investments.

“The investment community is increasingly starting to understand that organisations which will in the short, medium or long-term provide the best returns will be those best prepared for the future world in terms of the impact that climate will have on them,” Messenger said.

The hub – available at tcfdhub.org – also provides material to companies regarding how to conduct scenario analysis for different global warming outlooks.

Messenger said that looking at scenarios in 15-20 years’ time would help businesses to explain and prepare strategies for different “potential avenues”, and enable them to change course when needed.

CDSB, an international organisation aiming to advance environmental reporting, recently aligned its reporting framework with the TCFD recommendations.

So far, CDSB has gathered reports, standards, legislation, regulations, frameworks, research papers, tools, webinars and guidance for the hub, covering various core aspects of the TCFD recommendations: governance, strategy, risk management, metrics, and targets.

The TCFD guidance was published last year as a reporting framework for companies. Case studies of firms that have piloted the TCFD recommendations will be added to the hub in the next few months.

More than 250 organisations have declared their support for the TCFD recommendations so far.  

The Task Force is chaired by Michael Bloomberg and was established by the chair of the Financial Stability Board, Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Its recommendations are voluntary.