The Taiwan Monthly

May 2020

ESG

Focusing on Climate Change and Implementing Climate-Related Risk Management

On April 13, the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Ernst & Young jointly held a workshop on the “Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures” (TCFD). This training was held digitally for epidemic prevention. Through online questions in advance, experts shared how listed companies should promote climate-related financial disclosures and replied to practical issues regarding extreme climate and climate changes, in order to help enterprises cope with the impact of these change on their operations, and master the relevant international disclosure practices and reporting requirements.

 

In her opening remarks, Pony B.L. Huang, head of the TWSE Corporate Governance Department, pointed out that the World Economic Forum released the “Global Risks Report 2020”and for the first time environmental issues occupy the top five long-term risks in the next decade. The report lists extreme climate, climate action failure, biodiversity loss, natural disasters and human-made environmental disasters as the five most likely risks. This shows the importance of climate risk management to business operations.

 

Accountant Roger Tseng of Ernst & Young shared in the workshop how enterprises should refer to TCFD recommendations to meet the relevant disclosure requirements and analyzed how enterprises should disclose climate issues through case study. According to Tseng, climate change issues will impact daily operations and enterprises can identify risks and opportunities from the perspectives of different stakeholders through prudent assessment and management.

 

In view of the fact that the risks and opportunities related to climate change have become an important topic for the sustainable development of companies, the Taiwan Stock Exchange is aligned with the international trend by adding the disclosure of climate risk information in the “Rules Governing the Preparation and Filing of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports by TWSE Listed Companies” and guides enterprises to gradually grasp the impact of climate change risks on the operation of enterprises through corporate governance evaluation indicators. These are useful for Taiwanese companies to demonstrate their resilience and action in the face of climate change issues. Please refer to the website of the Corporate Governance Center for the training materials (https://cgc.twse.com.tw/promoteEvent/promoteEventArticleCh/647).

 

For further inquiries, please contact Mr. Kao at 1219@twse.com.tw .