Bahrain Bourse hosts training workshop on Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

Bahrain Bourse (BHB), a self-regulated multi-asset marketplace, in collaboration with United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) hosted a training workshop on ‘Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)’.

The TCFD Recommendations provide a framework for companies to respond to the increasing demand for transparency on climate-related risks and opportunities from investors.

The training workshop is in line with Bahrain Bourse’s sustainability action plan to promote capacity building on sustainability and green finance products, as well as the importance of sustainability in the financial sector.

The workshop featured experts from United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE) to shed light on climate-related financial disclosures for listed companies. The training workshop falls in line with the latest Guidance Note on Climate-related Risks issued by Central Bank of Bahrain in March 2022.

The two-day workshop provided participants with insights on adoption of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations.

The workshop consists of two modules covering the following key topics: the financial risks and opportunities associated with climate change, the importance of climate-related financial disclosure, key elements of climate-related financial disclosure, characteristics of good practice climate disclosures, and initial steps required by organizations to implement the recommendations of the TCFD.

The workshop was conducted by a team of climate-risk experts who included Tiffany Grabski, a senior specialist on climate reporting for the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, and Evan Guy, public policy professional on climate change and sustainability topics for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

“We are delighted to have partnered with SSE to deliver a valuable and insightful workshop concerning climate-related financial risks,” Marwa Al Maskati, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Bahrain Bours, said.

“As responsible investors are demanding higher level of climate-related disclosures, listed companies are incorporating climate-related risks as part of their ongoing sustainability disclosure reporting. This is mainly being driven by a growing awareness of the scale of climate risk and opportunity in financial markets.

“We aim to encourage financing a low-carbon and more inclusive economy, as well as support listed companies and market participants in their sustainable finance journey, as they seek to meet growing market expectations and demands in relations to climate-related financial disclosures.”

Anthony Miller, Coordinator of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative (UN SSE), said they were thrilled to combine forces with the IFC and CDP in order to provide training on climate disclosure and an overview of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations for our members and their markets.

“Our goal with this programme is to facilitate a multi-stakeholder dialogue on TCFD disclosure and provide an understanding of the importance of climate-related disclosure,” he said.

“We congratulate Bahrain Bourse for taking the step forward on the sustainable path and hosting the climate report training for their market participants.”

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (‘TCFD’) was formed in 2015 by the G20 Financial Stability Board to develop consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies, banks, and investors in providing information to stakeholders. The TCFD recommendations provide guidance to all market participants on the disclosure of information on the financial implications of climate-related risks and opportunities in order to be integrated into business and investment decisions.

Bahrain Bourse issued its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Voluntary Reporting Guideline for listed companies in June 2020.

In September 2021, Bahrain Bourse and HSBC Bahrain launched a thought leadership publication on Sustainable Finance titled “Evolving ESG Landscape & Capital Markets”, which focuses on the sustainable development agenda and green finance.

Bahrain Bourse has been a voluntary signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative since 2019 to demonstrate its voluntary commitment to promoting sustainable and transparent capital markets in cooperation with listed companies and other related stakeholders.

Since 2019, Bahrain Bourse has been disclosing its annual sustainability reporting as part of its Annual Report, and it is committed towards demonstrating best practices in ESG.

F.K.N.