Investors are increasingly concerned about the impacts that climate change will have on the value of their portfolios and therefore on their ability to fulfill their fiduciary duties to their beneficiaries. Much of this concern has been directed towards carbon emissions from energy and other industrial processes and, to a lesser extent, to how climate change will affect the world’s water systems. Finance regulators have responded, building on and complementing the work done by CDP with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This Task Force proposes a framework for companies to provide relevant information to investors, lenders, insurers and other stakeholders.
This report draws on the disclosures from 201 companies that responded to the investor request for information on the risks and opportunities linked to four commodities responsible for the majority of deforestation and forest degradation: cattle products, palm oil, timber products and soy. It makes a clear business case for investor action, highlighting both the material risks that come with deforestation, and the opportunities emerging for those financial institutions that are acting against it.
