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Climate change: Hong Kong companies face challenge as global guidance on reporting greenhouse gas emissions change

  • The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) released new guidance asking companies to change the way they report their emissions
  • It is a tall order for businesses in Hong Kong because there is a lack of guidance on how to approach the recommendations in general, according to analysts

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The change poses a challenge for businesses in Hong Kong as the city aims to align its listed firms with the TFDC’s framework by 2025. Photo: Felix Wong
The Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has released new guidance asking companies to change the way they report their greenhouse gas emissions, posing a challenge for businesses in Hong Kong as the city aims to align its listed firms with the framework by 2025.
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The international organisation of 32 members, set up by the Basel-based Financial Stability Board in 2015 to develop guidelines for voluntary climate-related financial disclosures across industries, updated its implementation guidance on Thursday for the first time since the recommendations were launched four years ago.

In the revised guidelines, the task force asks that companies disclose their carbon emissions independently of a “materiality assessment”, meaning regardless of whether they think it is relevant or significant for their investors or stakeholders.

It is a tall order for businesses in Hong Kong because there is a lack of guidance on how to approach the TCFD recommendations in general, according to analysts.
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The new guidance applies to “Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions”.

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