Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views Issue 50

Prime, Futures and Securities Services | Sustainability and ESG 16 Other milestones in the sustainable journey, as our infographic unfolds its story 2015: Paris Agreement Announced. Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), deals with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance, starting in the year 2020. The Paris deal was the world’s first comprehensive climate agreement. In June 2017, US President Donald Trump announced an intention to withdraw the US from the Agreement, but other countries have reaffirmed their commitments. For example, in July 2017 France’s environmental minister announced France’s five-year plan to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of the Paris Agreement. They also plan to ensure that France will no longer use coal to produce electricity after 2022. As of May 2018, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 176 have become party to it. The implementation of the agreement by all member countries together will be evaluated every five years, with the first evaluation in 2023. 2015/2016: G20 commitment to sustainable growth under the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 2016: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) came into force. There are 17 goals in total, with a targeted fulfilment date of 2030 (see below). 2017: Financial Stability Board taskforce on climate-related financial disclosure. “Increasing transparency makes markets more efficient, and economies more stable and resilient.” 25 The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) mission was to develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders. The TCFD considered the physical, liability and transition risks associated with climate change and what constitutes effective financial disclosures across industries. The work and recommendations of the TCFD were designed to help firms understand what financial markets want from disclosure in order to measure and respond to climate change risks, and encourage firms to align their disclosures with investors’ needs. The final Recommendations report of the TCFD covered four high-level areas: governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets. The FSB Plenary met in Basel in June 2018 to discuss risks and vulnerabilities from market developments in the global financial system and progress against its 2018 work plan for delivery to the Argentine G20 Summit in November. Among other topics, the plenary discussed the TCFD. It received an update on the ongoing work of the TCFD to promote For further details on the UN SDG’s you can refer to the Citi GPS research publication entitled United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Pathways to Success — A Systematic Framework for Aligning Investment. 24