CASE STUDY 5.6: Climate Measurement Standards Initiative
In response to the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Australia’s financial services sector is now increasingly considering the physical impacts of climate change to their operations, risk management, planning and financial disclosures. However, there are no agreed standards in place in Australia for measuring and reporting physical climate change risks.
The Earth Systems and Climate Change Hub has provided climate change expertise to the industry-led Climate Measurement Standards Initiative (CMSI), which has developed best-available, open-source, science-based standards for scenario analysis of physical climate-related financial risk and disclosure. The standards allow for better reporting of physical risk, providing better risk information – and so, better decisions – for investors.
We’ve supported the Science Committee and Steering Committee/Secretariat functions of the CMSI. The Science Committee’s purpose was to inform scientific principles and guidelines for standardised scenario analysis and reporting of physical climate risks in order to meet reporting requirements of the industry regulator and expectations of government stakeholders.
We’ve also leveraged off the CMSI to facilitate an increase in climate change science literacy of industry practitioners and to identify and address existing and emerging knowledge gaps, including the need for development of climate change sensitive natural catastrophe modelling capability for Australia.
Commenced: February 2019
Completed: September 2020
More information: Geoff Gooley, ESCC Hub Program Manager
Publications and products
The CMSI Climate Science Guidelines, Financial Disclosure Guidelines and summary documents can be downloaded from the CMSI website.
Additional links
- Media release on the publication of the CMSI reports and guidelines | 14 September 2020 | New Australian guidelines launched to ensure consistent climate change risks assessments and disclosure
- Media release on the initiative | 2 June 2020 | Australian first industry-science collaboration to develop a common understanding of Australian climate change risks
- Initiative website (hosted by ClimateKIC)