Davos: world’s largest equity owner among investors backing TNFD recommendations

More than 320 firms, including the world’s single largest owner of stocks have pledged to make nature-related disclosures based on the new TNFD recommendations, the taskforce announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The 14 recommendations, which were only released in September last year, are modelled on TCFD disclosure standards and will require firms to include information on nature-related dependencies and risks in their financial statements.

They have been designed to enable the achievement of the global policy goals outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed to by 196 countries at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 held in Montreal in December 2022.

The new reporting standards have received backing from a diverse group of firms ranging from corporates such as IKEA to seven of the world’s 29 Globally Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) and also some major asset owners. 

While European firms led the way, with 137 companies backing the recommendation, 134 companies in Asia and the Pacific also embraced nature reporting. Meanwhile, only 21 US firms have committed to the TNFD recommendations so far. 

Among the early adopters are Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which is the single largest owner of stocks globally, holding about 1.5 of all shares in the world’s listed companies.

The new reporting rules have also been endorsed by KLP, London CIV, Brunel Pension Partnership, AP2, AP7, as well as asset managers including AXA, Degroof Petercam, Fidelity, Federate Hermes and Robeco.

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Tony Golder, executive director at TNFD said he was surprised not just by the scale, but also the pace of adoption, describing it as a “huge step".

“We were very pleasantly surprised that a number of financial organisations told us that they are already working on including it in this financial year,” he added.

Carine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance and compliance officer at NBIM, said: “Addressing nature-related financial risks has been a longstanding priority on our ownership agenda at Norges Bank Investment Management. As active contributors to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), we are committed to leveraging this tool to deepen our understanding of our portfolio's nature-related impacts and dependencies, further reinforcing our responsible investment efforts in this important area.”

Goldner said that TNFD expects to announce another round of names backing the new reporting standards around COP16, which is due to take place in Türkiye in October.