In the face of a backlash against climate change action, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has doubled down on its action and signalled its intention to work more closely with China after one of its banking giants, Bank of China, joined the taskforce last week.
This comes after the giant philanthropic organisation Rockefeller Foundation this week committed to multi-year support for the task force.
Since 2020, the Rockefeller Foundation has divested its investments in the fossil fuel industry. The foundation said its investment was part of its broader intentions to “mobilise the private sector resources for climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience while playing a meaningful role in mainstreaming nature-based solutions.”
The foundation will also join TNFD’s stewardship council, which consists of TNFD’s four founding partners and government and philanthropic organisations committed to providing the financial resources needed to run the force. The council guides the taskforce’s work according to its seven principles.
The four founding partners are Global Canopy, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative, and WWF. Other members include the Japanese, Swiss, Norwegian, Netherlands, UK, and German governments.
Notably, Australia is not part of this group.
Maria Kozloski, senior vice president of innovative finance at The Rockefeller Foundation, said, “While most of the services that nature provides are not paid for, we are excited that the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures is advancing ways to understand how businesses use them and encourage business to assess and better manage their nature-related issues.”
The announcement comes just two days after returning US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to halt offshore wind farm lease sales and approvals as well as pausing permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects. He also pulled the US out of its commitment to the Paris Agreement during his inauguration, as he had for his first term as president. The AFR said that Trump’s halting of his predecessor’s many policies aimed at addressing climate change puts $479 billion of potential federal infrastructure funding at risk.
The announcement might have strengthened the philanthropic foundation’s commitment to fighting the climate action backlash coming from the new White House administration, perhaps borrowing an ancient adage that pays homage to its new Chinese banking member, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
The taskforce, in fact, indicated that it would strengthen its presence and engagement with the Chinese market following the membership of its latest member – which happens to be one of the “big four” Chinese banks.
Alongside the Bank of China news, the taskforce launched two new TNFD consultation groups in China: one in Beijing, convened by the locally based Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), and another in Hong Kong, convened by the Hong Kong Green Finance Association and its local Business Environment Council.
The task force says that it is moving to support the growing momentum in the Chinese market to assess and integrate nature-related considerations into financial and corporate decision-making.
Tim Skeet, a member of the executive management committee of Bank of China’s London branch, said, “As China’s most international bank… it is fitting that Bank of China should take the lead as the first Chinese financial institution to join the Taskforce.”
“From our involvement at COP15 in Kunming, our long and pioneering work in sustainable finance, to today’s important announcement, the Bank of China is proud to step up and shoulder this responsibility.
“We look forward to working together with important global partners to seek solutions to the pressing problems of climate change and loss of biodiversity that affect us all. This is a vital task that requires multinational cooperation, understanding and the development of global standards.”
David Craig, co-chair of the TNFD, added that the taskforce was seeing growing support from Chinese companies and hopes the move into China will influence its government to tighten up nature-related reporting requirements.
“Following China’s leadership in negotiating the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreement among more than 190 governments in December 2022…among its goals and targets, that agreement calls on governments to introduce requirements for nature-related reporting, which the TNFD recommendations and guidance now enable.
“We look forward to learning more from Chinese experience and deepening our engagement in China through the participation of the Bank of China on the Taskforce.”