The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), a global investor membership body that manages more than A$30 trillion in assets (US$20.7 trillion), has called on Australia’s new climate reporting regime to cover large unlisted companies. The group wants this to include ASX 300 firms and all large financial institutions. According to data from the IGCC, private firms are responsible for as much as 60% of Australia’s carbon emissions. It said that the government’s phase-in period for the new climate reporting regime should take no longer than three years, and that the government should publish its phase-in roadmap so that companies can plan and build their capacity. The group also said reporting entities need to publish standardised climate transition plans that “lay out their forward-looking strategies for the opportunities and risks of climate change”. Erwin Jackson, Director of Policy at IGCC, said: “Australia’s private and public companies should be on a level playing field, working to the same rules, and making the same contribution to the overall picture. Investors don’t want firms to just pay lip service to climate impacts. [Companies] need to be thinking about how a changing environment will be affecting their supply chains, their logistics, their workforce, and their customers.”
