Concept guide · ESG and sustainable finance

    TCFD and TNFD

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    8 min readLast reviewed: October 2026

    Intuition

    The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was set up by the Financial Stability Board in December 2015. Its job was to design a way for companies to tell investors about the financial effects of climate change. Its recommendations, published in 2017, became the most influential climate reporting framework in the world.

    TCFD's lasting legacy is its four-pillar structure: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. The ISSB built IFRS S2 on it, and RBI's draft climate disclosure framework for banks uses it too. TCFD itself was disbanded in October 2023, with the ISSB taking over its monitoring role.

    The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) applies the same thinking to nature: water, land, oceans, biodiversity and the services they provide. It published its recommendations in September 2023.

    Mechanics

    TCFD: four pillars and eleven recommended disclosures

    PillarRecommended disclosures
    GovernanceBoard oversight of climate risks and opportunities; management's role
    StrategyRisks and opportunities over the short, medium and long term; their impact on the business, strategy and financial planning; resilience of the strategy under different climate scenarios, including a 2°C or lower scenario
    Risk managementProcesses to identify and assess climate risks; processes to manage them; how these fit into overall risk management
    Metrics and targetsMetrics used to assess climate risks and opportunities; Scope 1, 2 and, if appropriate, Scope 3 emissions; targets and performance against them

    TNFD

    • Launched in June 2021; final recommendations published in September 2023
    • Uses the same four pillars as TCFD, with 14 recommended disclosures, adding items on engagement with Indigenous peoples, local communities and affected stakeholders, on the location of assets in sensitive areas, and on value chain processes
    • Asks companies to consider both their dependencies on nature (for example, a beverage company's need for clean water) and their impacts on nature (for example, a mine's effect on forests)

    The LEAP approach

    TNFD's guidance for assessing nature-related issues:

    1. Locate the company's interface with nature: where its operations and value chain touch sensitive ecosystems
    2. Evaluate dependencies and impacts
    3. Assess the resulting risks and opportunities
    4. Prepare to respond and report

    TNFD and the ISSB

    In November 2025, the ISSB decided to build on the TNFD framework for nature-related disclosures, and TNFD paused further technical guidance. The ISSB chose to develop a non-mandatory practice statement, supported by guidance in IFRS S1 and updates to SASB Standards, with a draft planned for October 2026 and a 120-day consultation.

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