On 31st January 2022, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) was consolidated into the IFRS Foundation to support the work of the newly established International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While this site and its resources remain relevant for preparers looking to improve sustainability disclosure until such time as the ISSB issues its IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards on such topics, no further work or guidance will be produced or published by CDSB. For further information please visit the IFRS website.

Blog

Building the TCFD Knowledge Hub

Creating the TCFD Knowledge Hub has been one of my greatest achievements and, hopefully, a legacy that will continue long after I have left CDSB. The idea for the Hub came in 2017 from our Managing Director, who came back from an external meeting and announced to the team that we should create an online platform to support the implementation of the TCFD. We planned for a central repository to bring some order to the overwhelming amount of guidance, research and resources that were starting to be published in the wake of the TCFD recommendations.

CDSB’s hidden hero: Michael Zimonyi

Often when people talk about CDSB they talk about the leaders. For most of the organisation’s existence, CDSB has been a small Secretariat under 5 people. Lois Guthrie, CDSB’s Founding Director and I often said we ran the company on fairy dust, a little magic and a lot of coffee.

Looking back at CDSB

In this article Founding Director Lois Guthrie remembers some of CDSB's key moments

We can’t afford fragmented financial reporting

Hundreds of billions of dollars each year are spent on our fragmented financial reporting system. With CDSB’s announcement that it will sunset early next year and converge to form the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), it is worth reflecting upon the foundational work CDSB and the sustainability reporting community have been involved in across the years, and how a great deal of it remains relevant to the future work of the ISSB.

6 characteristics of biodiversity assessment corporates need to know

Climate change is a human-induced phenomenon that has been etched in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Businesses are rolling out a barrage of actions to reduce emissions and conform to climate-risk disclosure regulations. With corporates grappling to meet their net-zero targets, new talk of nature-related risk disclosures, such as biodiversity, may seem overwhelming.

Water risks: why investors care about sustainability

Heatwaves and droughts are some of the effects of climate change that have become evident in recent years. The intensity and frequency of these occurrences has increased. But since these events are not new, it could be years before some people are motivated to address climate change. While the effects of climate change may therefore seem far removed, water-related risks are widespread. Water is arguably the medium through which we feel the effects of climate change most.

Value chain

How to prevent biodiversity loss through value chain tracking

Food production is the primary cause of global biodiversity loss (60-70%). At the same time, approximately one third of the food produced (1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted along the supply chain. Food waste increases pressure on agriculture and therefore drives biodiversity loss. Finding efficient ways to track value chains can reduce food waste.

3 water-related impacts to business you hadn’t thought of

Over 2 billion people live in countries with high water stress levels. Global water use has more than doubled in the last 40 years. Coupled with the effects of climate change, the strain intensifies. Businesses are already experiencing financially-material impacts related to competition of water resources and its associated degradation of ecosystems.

The good, the bad and the ugly. What went down?

Last Thursday, CDSB hosted a webinar to look back at some of the common practices of TCFD reporting that have emerged, now that we have had the reporting standard for four years. From "sustain-a-babbling" to TCFD light (diet version), the panellists had seen it all and did not hold back the lassos. Here are some of the good, bad and ugly moments of this London Climate Action Week webinar event.

Covid inequalities highlight the pressing need for social reporting

The lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our personal lives is evident. Beginning with the loss of loved ones and extending to how we work, shop, and socialise. But what will the impact be to our societies and economies in the long run? The truth is that the long-term ramifications are far from clear.

Connecting biodiversity with financial capital

New guidance underway for companies to address biodiversity and land use-related financial reporting. CDSB's Technical Director, Ravi Abeywardana, shares insight into the work.

Introduction to TCFD (IBM Think Summit)

CDSB’s Managing Director, Mardi McBrien, introduced the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) at the IBM Think Summit Australia & New Zealand.

Will 2021 be the turning point for sustainability reporting in Europe?

CDSB's Policy Manager, Axelle Blanchard, shares her views on the current state of reporting policies and corporate practices following the launch of CDSB’s latest analysis of 2020 environmental disclosure by Europe’s major companies in order to assess what is ahead of us in 2021.

Are we feeling the shark’s teeth?

Francesca Recanati takes a deep dive into the meaning of water-related financial risks for business and shares insight into CDSB's ongoing work on water-related disclosure.

2020: The disruption and the lasting change

Last week the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, announced that it voted against 53 companies worldwide due to lack of progress on climate concerns. CDSB’s Senior Technical Officer, David Astley, warns that the “freshness” of climate reporting phenomenon should not be mistaken for fleetingness.

Climate and financial reporting

How can we advance the integration of climate-related matters into financial reporting? CDSB's Technical Manager, Sundip Jadeja, shares insight into the work of the Technical Working Group on Climate Accounting Standards.

Four steps to a stronger TCFD disclosure

Ricardo, a global strategic engineering and environmental consultancy that specialises in the transport, energy and scarce resources sectors, outlined four steps to strengthen climate-related disclosure in line with the TCFD Recommendations.

Are we headed towards mandatory climate disclosure?

CDSB's Technical Director, Nadine Robinson, examines signals from Government and the finance community about the need for mandatory disclosure and potential pathways for inclusion in national legislation.

Can we bring nature back from the brink?

CDSB's Senior Technical Officer, David Astley, looks at the latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

A Debate At The Oxford Union: Should FASB And IASB Set Standards For Nonfinancial Information?

On December 11, 2018, a debate will be held at the Oxford Union regarding the “Motion: This House believes that corporate sustainability reporting should be mandated, and standardised by FASB and IASB, for it to be most useful for investors.” It will be chaired by Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild. In proposition are Paul Druckman, Ian Mackintosh, Sir Callum McCarthy, and Anne Simpson. In opposition are Jonathan Bailey, Bob Herz, Harvey Pitt, and Tom Quaadman. The debate is free and open to the public as space permits.

What to expect from the months ahead

Returning to her role of Managing Director from maternity leave, Mardi McBrien writes about CDSB’s mission and what to expect from the year ahead

Looking back at 10 years of CDSB

Mardi McBrien writes her personal reflections on the past 10 years of CDSB, highlighting the key achievements of the organisation.

Green capital: driving sustainable growth

Michael Wilkins, Head of Sustainable Finance at S&P Global Ratings writes about the latest developments in the green bonds market and its connection to climate reporting

Will Europe be first to adopt the TCFD recommendations?

On 31st January, the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG) released its recommendations for Financing a Sustainable European Economy. This is a summary of and initial reactions to its recommendations around TCFD implementation.

Paris

One Planet Summit – What Next?

Simon Messenger, Managing Director at CDSB, rounds up the key highlights and announcements of from the One Planet Summit, with some personal reflections

Bringing order to sustainability reporting

We have launched the Reporting Exchange, a new global platform dedicated to sustainability reporting, providing information about environmental, social and governance reporting requirements and resources

Australia is waking up to the financial risks of climate change

As Australia’s Senate, Prudential Regulator and Department of Environment and Energy have all looked at climate risk disclosure in the past months, Mardi McBrien shares her views on why climate risk is high on the country’s agenda and what can be done to take it to common market practice.

Defining 'material' climate risks

How can organizations categorize the unpredictable, long-term impacts of a changing climate as specific financial risks? Prof. Robert Eccles and Lois Guthrie explore the issue of climate risk materiality

An intern's experience at CDSB

After interning with CDSB for 5 months, Diva Shah shares her experience and some of the things future interns can expect.

Resilience and security – redwood and salmon

Following the International Day for Biological Diversity and World Environment Day, Luke Blower considers the role of resilience and security for society and the natural world.

Business cycle? Think water cycle

What better time for businesses to think about their use of natural capital such as water than today, on World Water Day.

EU Footprint Matters

CDSB was appointed by the European Commission's DG Environment to participate in the peer review of a pilot phase aiming to deliver a single market for green products and organisations.

Milestones, goals and future plans

September has drawn to a close and, with a very successful Climate Week New York behind us, it’s time to turn our gaze towards COP21 and the launch of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Thoughts from our MD – July 2015

Having taken on a 12 month tenure as Managing Director of CDSB in June, unbelievably I find I have been here for a month already. And what a month!

CDSB Framework launched – what now?

With the launch of the expanded CDSB Framework, we turn our focus to developing enabling conditions for increasing its implementation globally.

Dr Jarlath Molloy

What next for climate change policy?

The interaction between climate science and policy making is more than a case study - it may literally shape our future world and lives.

Ian Wood

Natural Capital - the new sustainability lexicon?

Is natural capital accounting the next big thing in environmental sustainability? Are there frameworks/standards that we can adopt? Should we be developing issue or sector specific frameworks?

Steve Priddy, LSBF

Accounting for a zero carbon economy

With the emergence of a low carbon future , there is a greater overriding need for a standard way of accounting for GHG emissions.

Nigel Topping

Leading from the Future

Creating systematic change to provide a common language and standard in a fast developing world requires leadership and innovation.

VIP Blog for Greenstar

Removing clutter in non-financial reports and providing common standards is integral for responding to calls for sustainable business and changing behaviour.