It used to be called TCFD reporting, then the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures disbanded and now lots of us are saying “TCFD-aligned reporting”. Let’s just make life easy for ourselves and call it climate reporting.
At White Marble, we’re in favour of this for a number of reasons:
First, if you can drop an acronym in financial services then do it. Seriously, there are way too many of them flying around.
Secondly, since the TCFD disbanded and local regulators started to publish addendums on top of what was originally included in the TCFD framework, it is not strictly accurate to refer to it solely as TCFD-aligned reporting.
Finally, it rolls off the tongue much more easily!
Having worked on these reports for asset managers who published at the end of June (for the 2023 reporting period), we have some tips for those who have either worked on these before (and maybe hated every minute of it), or who will be fresh to it the next time the reporting deadline comes along.
In some organisations, that might be investment marketers, in others it could be sustainability teams and, elsewhere, compliance teams. The multi-faceted nature of these reports means ownership of them is not always obvious and the contributions required are far-reaching, which is why these projects can be difficult to manage and timelines tend to drift.
1) Organise yourselves: Understand which regulatory frameworks you need to take into consideration for your business’ reporting. This will depend on where you are based and have operations, your company’s turnover and/or the size of the business (number of employees). Regulation keeps changing, what was true one year will not necessarily be the case the following year. Ensure you have access to the most up-to-date guidance to inform your reporting requirements and get ahead of them.
2) Conduct gap analysis: Once you know what you’re reporting against it’s important to know where the gaps are: namely the information you already have on file or within existing reports versus content that will need to be created or requires collaboration with other teams and departments. Here you should also refer to earlier versions of the report so you remember to gather appropriate updates and can report progress on areas of development mentioned in prior publications.
If you can – keep a running list of activity mentioned against a certain requirement along with intended progress and/or activity due to be included in the subsequent reporting year. This will make it easier when you return to your climate report(s) next year, as you won’t have to scratch your head to remember where you left off. How you do this is up to you but a simple excel sheet will suffice.
3) Map out your timeline: These projects always take longer than you think. It sounds obvious but create a timeline starting from the publication date and work backwards, giving yourself at least a two-week grace period. You can never rely on sign offs happening on schedule, especially when holidays and other workloads are taken into account. The length of climate reports also means it takes proper focus and concentration to read and digest them.
When you reach the stage you believe the report is ‘finished’, consider leaving a gap of a couple of days and returning to it afresh – reading it with fresh eyes will reveal errors or edits you missed. Even better, give it to someone with no prior knowledge of the project or report to proofread – they will be able to spot paragraphs or sections that are unclear because they are not as close to the content.
4) Share the load: Compiling these reports is certainly more like a marathon than a sprint. They require stamina, persistence and a slow but steady build up of intensity if you don’t want it to feel incredible pain crossing the finishing line – no-one wants to spend long nights drafting or editing this type of content if they can avoid it!
Having a strong project manager to keep things moving early on, while you are still weeks or months away from deadline, is crucial. Think back to that gap analysis, identify from the start the people in your business that can help you fill those gaps and give then plenty of time to do so. They are far more likely to produce quality material and feel good about helping out if they are given due notice.
5) Outsource: If all this still sounds too much, or there is other work you would much rather be focused on, consider outsourcing the organisation and crafting of your climate reporting. While individuals in your business will always need to be involved, the majority of the time and burden associated with running a project like this can be alleviated with third party help.
White Marble has the subject matter expertise and previous experience of running climate reporting on behalf of asset managers. We take care of the coordination, content creation and final design and layout, or any parts of that process that you or your team doesn’t have the time to focus on.
It seems like a long way away now but next year’s reporting season will be upon us before we know it. White Marble also supports with FRC UK Stewardship Code submissions for both the October and April deadlines and FCA sustainability reporting at both the product and entity level.
Click here to get in touch to discuss.