Swiss Re has announced that it will adopt climate-related financial disclosure recommendations put forth by the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. A member of the TCFD,
Swiss Re helped to develop the voluntary guidelines on climate-risk reporting.
“Swiss Re believes the guidelines will ensure more transparency on climate-related risks and help users and providers of climate-related financial disclosures, including lenders, insurers and investors, to more effectively measure and evaluate the financial implications of climate change,” the company said in a news release.
“We are just at the beginning of the transition towards a low carbon economy,” said David Cole, Swiss Re group chief financial officer. “As a reinsurer that has been researching the effects of climate change for almost 30 years, as a large asset owner and as a long-term investor, we have the chance to step up to the next level and help shape tomorrow’s solutions. There are clear benefits of having more transparency about climate related risks and opportunities.”
The scientific consensus is that global climate change will have a significant effect on weather-related natural disasters and account for a growing share of natural catastrophe losses, according to the news release. As part of adopting the TFCD recommendations, Swiss Re will start including in its annual financial report aggregated expected losses from weather-related catastrophes, a description of “physical risks related to changing frequencies and intensities of weather-related perils,” and other climate change-related information.
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