Guidelines on reporting climate-related information

The 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (October 2018) all call for accelerated and decisive action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to create a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy. The EU has agreed ambitious targets for 2030 regarding GHG emission reductions, renewable energy and energy efficiency, and has approved rules on GHG emissions from land use as well as emissions targets for cars and vans. In 2018 the Commission published its strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy by 2050.

Companies and financial institutions have a critical role to play in the transition to a low- carbon and climate-resilient economy. Firstly, an additional annual investment of €180billion is already needed to meet the EU’s energy and climate 2030 targets, and further fundswill be needed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Many of these investments represent significant business opportunities, and much of the funding will need to come from private capital. Secondly, companies and financial institutions need to better understand and address the risks of a negative impact on the climate resulting from their business activities, as well as the risks that climate change poses to their business. Weather-related disasters caused arecord €283 billion in economic damages in 2017 and could affect up to two-thirds of the European population by 2100 compared with 5% today. Better disclosure of climate related information by companies can contribute to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which calls for governments to evaluate, record, share and publically account for disaster losses.