Introducing the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD’s) “CEO Guide to climate-related financial disclosures”. The guide lays out a practical roadmap for chief executives navigating the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
The guide serves as a step-by-step guide for companies to enhance their assessment and disclosure of climate-related financial impacts. Addressing the complexities of climate-related risks and opportunities, impact pathways, calculations, data and accounting assumptions, it empowers businesses to navigate challenges and seize opportunities.
The message is climate disclosure is no longer a sustainability side note. It’s a financial and governance issue that belongs in annual filings, board discussions, and capital allocation decisions.
Why the TCFD was created
The TCFD was established by the Financial Stability Board in 2015 after G20 finance leaders concluded that markets lacked consistent, comparable information on climate risk.
The objective: develop voluntary recommendations that help investors, lenders, and insurers understand how exposed companies are to climate-related risks and opportunities, and how resilient their strategies are under different scenarios.
The guide reinforces that climate issues are, or could be, financially material for many organizations.
The four pillars every CEO needs to understand
The TCFD framework rests on four core pillars:
Governance
Companies should disclose how boards oversee climate-related risks and opportunities, and how management assesses and manages them. Oversight should be integrated into existing governance and financial disclosure processes.
Strategy
Firms should explain how climate risks and opportunities affect business strategy and financial planning. The TCFD strongly recommends scenario analysis, including a 2°C or lower scenario, to test strategic resilience.
Risk management
Organizations must describe how they identify, assess, and manage climate-related risks, and how those processes integrate into overall enterprise risk management.
Metrics and targets
Companies are encouraged to disclose relevant metrics such as Scope 1, 2, and, where appropriate, Scope 3 emissions, as well as targets, internal carbon pricing, and performance indicators tied to climate goals.
Together, these pillars shift climate from narrative reporting to financially grounded disclosure.
What CEOs should actually report
The guide pushes executives to move beyond high-level commitments. Companies should explain:
- Which short-, medium-, and long-term climate risks and opportunities they’ve identified
- How those risks could affect income statements, cash flow, and balance sheets
- What scenarios they’ve considered and over what time horizons
- How strategy might change in response
The emphasis is on decision-useful information for capital markets, not marketing language.
From risk identification to opportunity capture
The guide also lays out structured ways to think about:
- Transition risks such as carbon pricing, regulation, market shifts, and litigation
- Physical risks including extreme weather, sea-level rise, and temperature changes
- Opportunities in resource efficiency, low-emission products, new markets, and energy innovation
In other words, disclosure is not only about downside exposure. It’s about how companies plan to compete in a lower-carbon economy.
A board-level issue, not a sustainability silo
One consistent theme: climate disclosure should follow the same governance rigor as financial reporting. That typically means CFO review, audit committee involvement, and board oversight aligned with risk appetite and long-term strategy.
The guide also highlights WBCSD’s Redefining Value program, which supports members in embedding risk management, governance, and assurance practices aligned with the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The bigger shift
The underlying shift is structural. Climate-related financial disclosures are no longer framed as optional sustainability transparency. They are positioned as tools to:
- Improve capital allocation
- Enhance market stability
- Clarify strategic resilience
For CEOs, the challenge is not whether to engage, but how deeply to integrate climate considerations into financial planning and enterprise risk management.
So here’s the real question: is your company’s climate narrative fully connected to its financial reality, and could it withstand scrutiny under a 2°C scenario?
Source: World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) “CEO Guide to Climate Related Financial Disclosures”, December 10, 2017
