Amid the backdrop of evolving climate change trends and developments in Canada and worldwide, we decided it was an opportune time to survey the climate disclosure practice of 220 of Canada's largest public companies. We surveyed constituents of the S&P/TSX Composite Index to provide insights into where disclosure practices may be headed.
The results were informative—our full report, launching soon, revealed several key takeaways:
- 45% of companies have publicly set a target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with the substantial majority (74%) targeting net-zero by 2050
- 95% of companies are publishing a sustainability, ESG, climate
action/transition or similar report
- 69% of those companies state they are reporting in accordance with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, the international framework on which Canadian rules are expected to be based
- 78% of companies identify climate, environmental, ESG or sustainability skills in their board skills matrix
- 88% of companies are disclosing Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, with over 50% of those disclosing at least some Scope 3 GHG emissions, although approaches to Scope 3 GHG emissions reporting vary considerably
- 59% of companies indicate that executive compensation is linked to climate-related goals or metrics
The rise in climate disclosure practices comes at a time of economic turbulence, climate policy shifts and political uncertainty. In the absence of clear, broadly applicable disclosure rules, market practice remains mixed and forward-looking trends are uncertain. Only time will tell whether the advent of Canadian climate disclosure rules will lead to standardized reporting and increased transparency, or if countervailing political pressures or concerns about "greenwashing" liability will continue to muddy the waters.
You can read all our commentary and report results in our full report, "Climate disclosure on the rise: 2024 climate disclosure report", to be released soon.
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