Climate Disclosures: What can we learn from TCFD adoption in the banking sector?

Hear from Hector Fontaine, Principal Consultant at BCS Consulting, as we take a closer look at TCFD adoption across the banking sector.

In today’s episode we will be returning to the topic of climate disclosures, looking specifically at the advancements in TCFD adoption across the banking sector.

In 2019 we recorded a podcast that discussed the early adoption of the TCFD across the banking sector. Now, just 2 years on, we are starting to see a number of countries laying out plans for mandatory TCFD reporting.

Expectations around the quality of climate disclosures are rising and we are seeing the TCFD transitioning to become a part of business as usual reporting. That is why today’s discussion will be focused on learning from those already reporting to better understand what firms are doing well, as well as where improvements can be made.

This episode will directly address:

• what banks are doing well and what needs to be improved;
• whether or not general-purpose lending needs to become more closely tied with emissions or other green indicators; and
• why TCFD reporting remains fragmented and what to do about it

In memory of Roger Gifford

We wanted to take this opportunity to pay tribute to Sir Roger Gifford who sadly passed away in May. Among his many accomplishments, he was a respected banker, former Lord Mayor of the City of London and Chair of the Green Finance Institute, playing a leading role in driving the green finance agenda in the UK. As someone who was always keen to support work promoting sustainable finance, he has been a good friend to GARP and was happy to write the Forewords to both BCS Consulting reports on TCFD discussed in this episode. We dedicate this episode of the podcast to his memory. 

Links from today’s discussion:

• Our previous podcast with Hector: https://garpcast.libsyn.com/tcfd-global-progress-for-the-banking-sector
• BCS’ TCFD Report - Global Progress for the Banking Sector: http://www.bcsconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/BCS-TCFD-Global-Progress-Report-for-the-Banking-Sector-060521.pdf

For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Climate Resources Hub: https://climate.garp.org/

If you have any questions, thoughts or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com

speaker's bio

Hector Fontaine - Principal Consultant at BCS Consulting

Hector is a Risk & Finance management consultant and Sustainable Finance lead for BCS Consulting. BCS Consulting is focused on delivering complex business change projects to clients in banking and financial markets, working across Capital Markets, Retail & Corporate Banking and Finance & Risk functions in some of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Hector, as Sustainable Finance Lead, has expertise spanning finance and risk. Over the past few years, he has directed and co-authored a number of significant research papers, including the ESG Banking Benchmark Report back in 2018, and more recently two comprehensive reviews of the adoption and implementation of TCFD in the banking sector.