The Institute of International Finance (IIF), supported by Ernst & Young LLP, has developed a TCFD Guidance Template to help financial institutions align their climate-related disclosures with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), with a focus on the banking sector.

Drawing on observed industry practices, including a mapping and benchmarking of TCFD reports from the banking sector, the TCFD Guidance Template is designed as a voluntary, open-source toolkit complementing existing frameworks and resources, aligned with the revised Recommendations and Guidance released by the TCFD in October 2021.

DOWNLOAD: IIF TCFD Template Excel Worksheet (.xlsx)
DOWNLOAD: IIF TCFD Template Overview Document (.pdf) 
DOWNLOAD: IIF TCFD Mock Disclosure Slide Deck (.pdf) 

“On the path to net-zero, one critical challenge for financial firms is ensuring that climate-related disclosures are high-quality and decision-useful,” said Tim Adams, President and CEO of the Institute of International Finance. “Going forward, we hope that this market-led, open-source resource can serve as a helpful contribution to the newly-formed International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) --  announced today at COP26 -- as it takes forward the process to develop the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.”

“Comparable and consistent climate disclosures are important not only for stakeholder understanding, but also as part of steering to Net Zero,” said Judson Berkey, Managing Director, Group Head Engagement and Regulatory Strategy, Chief Sustainability Office, UBS, and Chair of the IIF’s Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG).“I am pleased the IIF has produced these templates to encourage greater consistency in financial firm disclosures. They will also be a key resource for IIF member firms new on their climate disclosure journey.”

The TCFD Guidance Template is designed to serve as a supporting resource that firms can draw upon where relevant to their business models and strategic objectives. Specifically, it is intended to:

• Support firms to respond to evolving disclosure needs, including on emerging disclosure themes (e.g., forward-looking metrics and targets),
• Support firms in their effort to structure key quantitative and qualitative disclosures where different practice exists (e.g., scenario analysis disclosures),
• Enable firms to improve the granularity of key quantitative and qualitative disclosures, including business-line and product-specific levels (e.g., risk management),
• Over time, support industry dialogue to drive greater comparability in disclosures by helping to identify sets of common metrics and indicators relevant to different business models.

Recognizing the rapid evolution of disclosure practices and norms, the TCFD Guidance Template is intended to be a dynamic “living document.” The Template has been designed to reflect the latest developments in areas of metrics, targets and other quantitative information which banks may seek to disclose, including in evolving areas such as climate-related commitments and transition plans.

The TCFD Guidance Template is intended to serve as a basis for contributing perspectives and information on industry practices – for example, to support the work of the IFRS Foundation to develop international standards for climate-related disclosures, as part of the broader agenda of the future International Sustainability Standards Board, building on the work of entities such as the Value Reporting Foundation and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board.