NZ firms to report their climate effect
Reuters, SYDNEY
New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law that would require banks, insurers and investment managers to report the effects of climate change on their business, New Zealand Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said yesterday.
All banks with total assets of more than NZ$1 billion (US$703 million), insurers with more than NZ$1 billion in total assets under management, and all equity and debt issuers listed on the country’s stock exchange would need to make disclosures.
“We simply cannot get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 unless the financial sector knows what impact their investments are having on the climate,” Shaw said in a statement.