To help listed companies here meet climate reporting requirements, the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) will be holding a series of workshops for individuals involved in producing their companies’ sustainability reports.
Climate disclosure rules were announced in December 2021.
The workshops will be focused on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
Attendees will learn to identify climate-related risks, opportunities and processes to implement climate reporting.
Starting Jan 1 this year, all companies must provide these disclosures on a ‘comply or explain’ basis in their sustainability reports for financial years.
Reports under the new rules are expected to be first published in 2023, with phased requirements.
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For example, companies in the financial, agriculture, food and forest products, and energy industries will be required to make the disclosures from FY2023 onwards, followed by the materials and buildings, and transportation industries must do the same a year later.
According to SGX RegCo, the sectoral workshops will be conducted by sustainability professionals, and also coordinated by Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS), the Singapore chapter of the United Nations Global Compact.
The first workshop is expected to be held in April, with subsequent workshops at regular intervals thereafter.
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SGX will subsidise the workshop fees for the first two representatives from each listed company.
“Investors are seeking climate-aligned investments while banks and insurers are integrating climate risks into their decisions,” says June Sim, SGX RegCo’s head of listing compliance.
“We hope that our issuers will take advantage of these subsidised workshops to equip themselves to meet the informational demands of these stakeholders,” she adds.
Esther Chang, executive director, GCNS says that TCFD recommendations are gaining traction globally.
As such, it is important for companies to include these recommendations on disclosing climate-related business opportunities and risks, for a smooth transition to a sustainable future.
“We are pleased to support Singapore Exchange (SGX) in building capability on climate related reporting for listed companies,” says Chang.
