KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — The Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3), a platform for building climate resilience within the Malaysian financial sector, will work towards a wider adoption of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations as part of its priorities over the next 12 months.

During JC3’s third meeting yesterday, its members gave their commitment to advance concrete actions to pave the way for the adoption of the disclosure standards by the industry in the immediate future.

“JC3 members also agreed to take up, as part of its future work plan, the development of measures to help bridge current gaps in climate and environment risk-related information needed to support risk management and product solutioning by financial service providers,” Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Securities Commission (SC) said in a joint statement today.

BNM and the SC lead the joint committee, which is co-chaired by the central bank’s deputy governor Jessica Chew Cheng Lian and SC deputy chief executive Datuk Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin.

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The statement said JC3 members, which include industry players, affirmed the importance of climate change management at the latest meeting, given the significant risks and systemic impact that climate events could inflict on lives and livelihood.

“The current Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the far-reaching impact of similar global events, with demand and supply shocks spreading across borders.

“This has raised a further sense of urgency to the work of JC3 in supporting efforts to build resilience against climate and environmental-related events and secure an orderly transition to a more sustainable economy,” the statement said.

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JC3’s meeting yesterday discussed the progress of initiatives under its four sub-committees (namely, Risk Management; Governance and Disclosure; Product and Innovation; and Engagement and Capacity Building) as well as the focus of priorities for the next 12 months.

It said following the public consultation on BNM’s Discussion Paper on Climate Change and Principles-Based Taxonomy published in December 2019, more than 80 institutions had sent in comments and suggestions.

A revised document, which will include enhancements to the classification system and scope of application, as well as additional guidance for implementation, will be published in early 2021.

“In parallel, 12 financial institutions that are members of the JC3 will participate in a pilot implementation of the taxonomy scheduled to commence this month,” it said.

The statement also said members discussed the results of an assessment conducted on climate-related disclosure practices across a sample of financial institutions operating in Malaysia based on recommendations of the TCFD.

In addition, members of the joint committee exchanged views on the demand and supply conditions shaping the current green finance landscape in Malaysia, including the paucity and fragmentation of information, gaps in technology knowledge, coordination issues and low visibility on national strategies. — Bernama