Commodity markets will need to adapt to new financial disclosures on climate and biodiversity

The financial markets are playing an increasingly important role in driving the energy transition. To do so effectively, they need transparent and comparable information on financial risks. Over the last few years there has been a wave of global financial disclosure initiatives, starting with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). G7 countries are now legislating the TCFD’s recommendations. In 2021 the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) was launched. Expectations are running high that their recommendations in September 2023 will be as pivotal for biodiversity as the TCFD recommendations were for climate change. There are also many national initiatives to be aware of, from tightening financial disclosures to stricter ESG reporting to combat greenwashing. The capital-intensive commodity markets will need to keep abreast of all these developments. They will also need to raise their game to meet the financial markets’ growing requirements for disclosures and reporting.