RIAA, TNFD forge partnership

The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) and the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) will together arrange the official Consultation Group for Australia and New Zealand to tackle nature-related financial issues.

The group will bring together business, finance, public sector and civil organisations to boost engagement with and adoption of the global TNFD framework.

Originally established in 2020 to develop a disclosure framework for organisations to manage nature-related risks and support the shift to nature-positive outcomes, the RIAA will drive the consideration and implementation of TNFD in Australasian markets.

“As we have seen with the successful adoption of the TNFD’s earlier climate equivalent, the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), a reporting framework is vital for investors understanding the nature-related risks in their portfolios and mitigating these,” Simon O’Connor, CEO at RIAA, said.

“More than half of global economic output is dependent on biodiversity and ecosystem services. There is strong momentum in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand to better account for and value assets on the basis of nature-related risks and how they are managed.”

The RIAA will also work with institutional members of the TNFD Forum, members of its own Nature Working Group and in partnership with the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

“RIAA’s convening of investors through our Nature Working Group and now through the TNFD are critical elements in building investor capacity and ultimately, protecting our natural capital. This is of utmost importance to our investor members, and the Australian and New Zealand economies,” O’Connor said.

“As a TNFD Taskforce member and Co-Chair of the RIAA Nature Working Group, I am so excited to welcome and support this opportunity,” Guy Williams, Director of Biodiversity & Natural Capital, Sustainability & Climate Change at Deloitte, said.

“The TNFD represents a seismic shift for how nature is valued and properly managed. We have a chance to ensure Australia and New Zealand help guide this shift to build a new global best practice for nature.”

Final recommendations from the Taskforce are due in September 2023.