Earlier this month at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Canada hosted its first-ever Pavilion, featuring 200+ climate leaders and 80+ unique events that showcased the breadth and diversity of Canadian climate action. Hot on the heels of the world’s biggest climate summit, Canada’s Ambassador for Climate Change, Catherine Stewart, reconnected with GLOBE’s very own Elizabeth Shirt to reflect on key outcomes and challenges coming out of COP27, and what’s next for Canada at the COP15 Biodiversity Conference in Montréal (Dec. 7, 2022 – Dec. 19, 2022).

Join us in Toronto at GLOBExCHANGE (Feb. 27 – Mar. 1, 2023) to continue these vital conversations, invest in international collaboration, and exchange the solutions, skillsets, and dollars that will help advance Canada’s ambitious climate goals both at home and abroad: http://www.globexchange.ca/

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The path to net zero will require hard work, creativity, and a whole lot of collaboration. To help fuel and shape this collaboration, we have distilled the key takeaways from GLOBE Forum 2022 into the 10 action areas we need to prioritize in the next 10 years to achieve net zero by 2050.

Over the next few months, we will be developing an interactive 10×10 Matrix that highlights the actions that governments, businesses, and NGOs can take to achieve this ambitious but urgent target. We hope the 10×10 Matrix will not only inspire action, but also help you to better understand how your actions are connected to and enable others in your ecosystem.

To ensure that the 10×10 Matrix is representative of the issues facing diverse stakeholder groups, we have engaged the Leading Change Steering Committee and other partners. Virtual GLOBE Forum delegates will also have the opportunity to provide input into the full matrix in the coming weeks

The 10×10 will come to life at GLOBExCHANGE – our next Destination Net Zero event, taking place in Toronto on February 27 – March 1, 2023. GLOBExCHANGE will build on the conversations at GLOBE Forum and use the 10×10 Matrix as a basis for driving meaningful change in pursuit of our net-zero goals.

Mobilizing & Deploying Capital:

Develop policies that de-risk and incentivize investment, remove barriers to innovative financial instruments, and address funding gaps through partnerships and private/public investment

Unlocking Innovation:

Accelerate commercialization of clean technologies, improve inter-jurisdictional knowledge sharing, support innovators and ecosystems, and accelerate public-private partnerships and community collaboration

Aligning Transparency, Standards & Reporting:

Create accountability and align climate-disclosure policies between jurisdictions and develop holistic sustainability/ESG frameworks to facilitate action and knowledge sharing

Advancing Resiliency:

Identify national and regional risks, direct funding to resilient infrastructure retrofits and development, and improve land use planning

Creating a Circular Economy:

Design an Indigenous-centred circular economy roadmap; establish national and provincial goals, policies, and programs; and incorporate circular economy principles into data and financial modelling

Implementing Nature-based Solutions:

Prioritize nature-based solutions in formulating government initiatives and embed the value of natural solutions into infrastructure and business planning processes

Centering Indigenous Leadership, Engagement & Ways of Knowing:

Cultivate long-term relationships with Indigenous leadership and communities, enhance authentic engagement, collaboration and community capacity building initiatives, and support Indigenous knowledge-based adaptation

Leveraging Infrastructure & the Built Environment:

Focus on infrastructure investments and development that address community challenges, encourage compatibility through international collaboration, and identify built environment innovations that deliver numerous sustainability opportunities

Shifting to Low-Carbon Transportation:

Leverage policy instruments to incentivize the shift to low-carbon alternatives, focus on increasing access to connect under-resourced communities, and create infrastructure that supports the transition to EVs

Accelerating the Clean Energy Transition:

Implement strategic policy supports that actively close the gap between federal policy and provincial enforcement, align industry focus around the adoption of net-zero technologies, and encourage coalition-building across sectors

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the GLOBE Advance session partners, and The Delphi Group’s expert facilitators, notetakers, and content reviewers.

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Are you thinking about offering an in-person, hybrid or virtual event, workshop or presentation? We can help!

For more information about how we can partner with you to deliver your next sustainability event, reach out to our Senior Manager, Event Partnerships, Caroline Vanasse, directly at caroline.vanasse@globeseries.com.

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GUEST CONTENT

Recorded at GLOBE Forum 2022, this Net Zero Insights video features host John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, Office of the CEO from RBC in conversation with Susannah Pierce, Shell Canada’s President and Country Chair.

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That’s a wrap! It’s been our great pleasure to connect and collaborate with the incredible community at GLOBE Forum over these past three days. As we look back on our last day together, hear about why we’re excited for what lies ahead on the road to Destination Net Zero from the Chief Executive Officer of GLOBE Series, The Delphi Group, Leading Change, and CBSR, Mike Gerbis.

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From the Opening Bell at Marketplace, to Innovation Challenges and Reverse Pitches, to interactive programming both on-stage and online, the second day of GLOBE Forum 2022 blew us away! Catch up with The Delphi Group’s President, Carol-Ann Brown, for more highlights from Destination Net Zero.

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From the Prime Minister’s major net-zero announcement, to seeing all our favourite people back together for the first time in two years, the first day of GLOBE Forum 2022 was one for the books! Watch to hear from our very own Elizabeth Shirt, GLOBE Series’ Managing Director, and catch up on all the Day One highlights.

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What is the 10×10?

It’s a framework we’re bringing to GLOBE Forum 2022 to drive action, impact and outcomes. How it works:

• Step 1: GLOBE Forum sessions will tease out the actions we need to take to get to net zero. Dedicated notetakers will document these and then distill them by theme.
• Step 2: At GLOBE Advance, which takes place on the final day of Forum, we’ll work together to sift through the proposed actions and prioritize what needs to be done to accelerate a net-zero future.
• Step 3: The outcomes from these discussions will feed into the 10×10 summary report: the plan that identifies the 10 actions in 10 years that we need to take to get to net zero. In other words, the net-zero roadmap for Canada.

Why the 10×10?

We’re done talking about if, why or whether we need to get to net zero by 2050. Now it’s about the HOW. But 2050 still feels a long way off for some people, so the 10×10 is all about creating urgency and momentum for action in the next decade.

What we need to do is one thing…the 10×10 is also about who needs to do it, and creating accountability for specific actions. Here at GLOBE, we will hold ourselves accountable for tackling and further unpacking priorities at future GLOBE events. As we have for 30 years, we will bring people together in innovative ways to drive action, but we can’t do it alone. We’re calling on our partners to help us build a better future.

How can people get involved in the 10×10?

First of all, make sure you stick around for GLOBE Advance on March 31st to participate in a facilitated, hands-on discussion on the GLOBE program theme of your choice. In-person participants at GLOBE Forum 2022 will have the opportunity to choose from six action-oriented sessions on:

1. Innovation and Adoption
2. Policy, Regulation, and Corporate Governance
3. Finance and Investment
4. Just Transition
5. Beyond Net Zero
6. Local Solutions to Net Zero

It’s an incredible opportunity to work with fellow leaders and practitioners from across North America to accelerate a net-zero future.

Second, make the most of your time while at Forum. Use the networking and think spaces, the program sessions, and the Marketplace to connect and collaborate with our unparalleled community. The beauty of GLOBE Forum is the big tent, and we need all of you to share your ideas if we’re going to get to net zero.

Finally, partner with us. The 10×10 journey doesn’t end with GLOBE Forum. We invite you to help us advance and accelerate any of the actions on the 10×10, whether it’s at a future GLOBE event or other type of activity. Let’s get ‘er done!

Participation in GLOBE Advance is included in your GLOBE Forum All-Access Pass. Attendees with Virtual Passes will have an opportunity to review the 10×10 summary report before it goes public. 

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We are at the beginning of the most decisive decade in our lifetimes. What we do in the next 10 years will set the course for our net-zero future. To meet the moment, GLOBE Series launched Destination Net Zero Events—a three-event series culminating in GLOBE Forum 2022, the largest and longest-running sustainability conference in North America.

We’re embedding action and accountability into these events with the 10×10: 10 actions in 10 years we need to take to get to net zero. The actions identified in the Energy and Transportation Days event, which took place virtually October 26-27, 2021, are summarized in the 10×10 Outcomes Report. These outcomes will feed into the final 10×10 that is produced after Forum.

Report (pdf) ⟶

By: Jennifer Coulson, Vice President, ESG, BCI 

In the 21st century, climate resilience is a must and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is rapidly becoming the gold standard for reporting on climate-related impacts. 

The TCFD is a set of recommendations to help investors assess the resilience of firms and assets in the face of different climate impacts and futures. It was first published in 2017. Now, four years later, nearly 60% of the world’s largest 100 companies either support the TCFD or have published reports in line with the recommendations. 

At BCI, we find TCFD disclosures to be hugely informative and helpful for risk management and business strategy. Last fall, we joined seven other Canadian pension plan investment managers (together we have $1.6 trillion assets under management) to ask that companies and investors report relevant ESG data in a standardized way, including by adopting the TCFD framework. 

Although the TCFD disclosure process can be daunting, it’s also hugely rewarding. For those at the beginning of their TCFD journey, here are some quick tips to keep in mind: 

1. You have to start somewhere. It’s not going to be perfect. In order to drive change, your disclosures should evolve year after year. You don’t have to get everything perfect right from the outset. 
2. Take advantage of the risk management benefits of the TCFD, but don’t forget it’s also a useful tool for business strategy. Your annual TCFD review is an opportunity to reflect on policies and operations. Do you have the right targets and metrics? What progress are you making? 
3. Integrate the TCFD into your existing processes. If you think of the TCFD as a new process to adopt, it can be a bit overwhelming. Think about how the TCFD can be integrated into your existing strategic decision-making process, governance framework or enterprise risk management process. Make it complementary to what you already do. 

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For more TCFD insights, check out the GLOBE Capital session where Jennifer Coulson will be speaking: TCFD: Beyond Disclosure to Core Business Strategy. 

“In January of last year, I wrote that climate risk is investment risk. I said then that as markets started to price climate risk into the value of securities, it would spark a fundamental reallocation of capital. Then the pandemic took hold – and in March, the conventional wisdom was the crisis would divert attention from climate. But just the opposite took place, and the reallocation of capital accelerated even faster than I anticipated.” – Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock in his 2021 Letter to CEOs

Investors, corporations and governments are uniting around the race to net zero at a phenomenal pace. As these organizations look for ways in which to assess and disclose their resilience to climate change, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) has emerged as the gold standard for climate disclosures.

Published in 2017, the TCFD recommendations provide a framework to help investors assess the resilience of firms and assets in the face of different climate impacts and futures. 2020 was a turning point for the recommendations, with the following regulatory and corporate updates:

• New Zealand became the first country in the world to make TCFD disclosures mandatory. By 2023, a majority of entities, including publicly listed companies, insurers, banks will have to publish TCFD disclosures, on a ‘comply or explain’ basis.
• The United Kingdom followed suit, introducing mandatory climate-related financial disclosure aligned to the TCFD, beginning with certain financial institutions and listed companies. By 2023, all listed commercial companies, nearly all banks, insurers, asset managers, nearly three quarters of occupational pension schemes and half of all UK-registered large private companies will have to publish TCFD disclosures.
• The Canadian government required large employers to provide TCFD-aligned disclosures in order to apply for COVID-19 relief funding.
• Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, used his annual Letter to CEOs to call for Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and TCFD disclosure from companies in which they invest.
• The CEOs of eight of Canada’s largest pension plan investment managers, the Maple 8, published a statement calling for Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and TCFD disclosure.
• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the U.S. authored a report that found that climate change poses a risk to the U.S. financial system. It recommended that the Securities and Exchange Commission strengthen requirements to disclose climate-related risks.
• By May 2020, nearly 60% of the world’s 100 largest public companies supported the TCFD and/or reported in line with the TCFD recommendations, although there is room for improvement in the level of disclosure.

Momentum is unlikely to slow in 2021, especially in light of a new U.S. federal administration that has made addressing climate change an urgent priority.

With TCFD enthusiasm reaching new heights, you may be asking yourself, “Is this right for my company?” The short answer is “yes”.

Regulators are moving to align emerging climate disclosure requirements to the TCFD, and an increasing number of institutional investors have demanded that firms align their disclosure to it. This signals market awareness and demand for climate-related financial disclosures, meaning TCFD disclosures may soon become ‘table stakes’ or a given for large corporations.

Why? Because according to Mark Carney, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and Governor of the Bank of England, and current United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, the TCFD “represents the best views of the private sector of what is decision useful, capturing the opinions of both the companies that must access finance and of the providers of capital from across the financial system.”

We know a first-time TCFD report can be daunting. To help your organization succeed, we’ve prepared the following top five TCFD tips:

1. Use the TCFD as a Framework to Tell Your Sustainability Story in a Common Language

TCFD disclosures are one way the private sector, regulators, and other key stakeholders can move towards “speaking the same language” when it comes to climate-related risks and opportunities. The climate disclosure landscape is beginning to coalesce around the vocabulary used by the TCFD for climate-related information. For example, reporting frameworks like CDP, UN Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) are mapping their climate-related disclosures to align with TCFD recommendations.

You can use the TCFD recommendations (a) as a conversation starter with your investors and internal management around business strategy and financial planning, (b) to connect the dots between governance, business strategy, risk management and operational performance on climate-related issues, and (c) as a jumping-off point to examine how your business will be resilient in the face of climate-related uncertainties.

2. Just Get Started, Then Improve Over Time

Corporations and investors around the world representing over $12.6 trillion in market capitalization have expressed their support for the TCFD, and this support is will continue to grow. Disclosure that is consistent with TCFD recommendations is an iterative process that companies will improve and perfect over time. Getting started signals your intention to be transparent and provide stakeholders with relevant information. It also allows you to build internal capacity for enhancing governance and management of climate-related issues. For a first disclosure, the key is to demonstrate to stakeholders that your company is asking the tough questions.

3. Every Industry is Different

Every company is exposed to climate-related risk to some extent, but the financial impacts of climate-related risks and the opportunities differ by sector. The TCFD provides supplemental guidance for financial institutions (banks, insurers, asset owners, asset managers) and non-financial sectors (energy, transportation, materials and buildings, and agriculture, food and forestry).

Disclosure aligned with TCFD recommendations requires a thorough understanding of the specific climate risks and opportunities that are relevant to your company and industry, whether your organization is in energy and utilities, mining,  financial services,  or even if you are a municipality. Focus on macro climate trends and how your company is responding.

4. Both the “What” and the “How” of Disclosure Matter

A best-in-class TCFD disclosure includes relevant climate-related information and is clearly structured across four categories: governance, strategy, risk management and metrics and targets. The TCFD recommends that disclosures be included in annual financial filings.

For now, implementation of the recommendations varies in practice. Some TCFD disclosures are published in stand-alone reports, others are integrated into sustainability reporting. Best practice is still emerging and is unlikely to be set for the next few reporting cycles. The key is to align as closely to the recommended structure and disclose in a way that makes sense for your organization and is transparent for stakeholders. And remember, this is just as much about climate-related risk management as it is about identifying climate-related opportunities for your organization. Take the long view by setting metrics and targets. If you are undertaking climate scenario analysis for the first time, start with known scenarios and a qualitative assessment, adding more rigour and financial quantification over time.

5. TCFD Disclosure is One Part of a Larger Toolbox for Managing Climate Risks and Opportunities

Preparing a TCFD disclosure requires engaging numerous internal stakeholders across different parts of the business. The TCFD provides a strong structure for your organization to think about the work you have done and plan to do related to climate change. It also lends itself well to iterative conversations and long-term thinking around strategy and financial planning related to climate change.

TCFD disclosure is likely just one component of the work your organization has or will undertake in the face of climate-related risks and opportunities. It is one step on your larger journey, providing you with the tools to think about and discuss long-term changes that will impact your organization.

For a deep dive into the TCFD Recommendations, join us at GLOBE Capital for TCFD: Beyond Disclosure to Core Business Strategy. Register today at capital.globeseries.com.

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Jessica Butts is a Senior Director and Emile Lavergne and Puninda Thind are Consultants with The Delphi Group. For more information on TCFD disclosure and/or to grow your organization’s climate leadership, feel free to reach out to any one of them directly: Jessica (jboyle@delphi.ca) | Emile (elavergne@delphi.ca) | Puninda (pthind@delphi.ca).