David Craig, the former CEO of Refinitiv, has resurfaced as co-chairman of a new market-led Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which will support business in assessing emerging nature-related risks and opportunities.
Craig quit Refinitiv late last month after nine and a half years at the helm of the global financial data business following its takeover by the London Stock Exchange.
Supported by major financial institutions, corporates and governments, the TFND initiative aims to develop and build on voluntary, consistent disclosures to help corporates, investors, lenders and insurance underwriters manage nature-related risks, such as new legal liabilities and systemic loss of soil fertility.
In its first year, the TNFD aims to build upon the work of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which has become instrumental in mainstreaming the issue of climate-related financial risks. The TNFD’s framework for nature-related risks will complement the TCFD’s climate-related framework, to give companies and financial institutions a complete picture of their environmental risks.
The framework will be tested and refined in 2022 before its launch and dissemination in 2023.
Craig will steer the 30-member Taskforce's efforts alongside co-chair Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Says Craig: “Without urgent action, ongoing loss to biodiversity poses unprecedented risks for business, both now and in the future. Better nature-related data that enables informed decision-making by financial institutions and companies is how we will solve the global ecological crisis. Financial disclosures are essential to a market-based solution to nature loss. A properly functioning, informed market will price in risks appropriately and be empowered to channel investments to more sustainable opportunities.”