In order to generate greater acceptance and ownership, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) & the Task Force for Natural-Related Development (TNFD) secretariat formed a consultation group for the ASEAN region to get the business sector’s feedback on the proposed new TNFD framework. BSD, which is strongly involved in assisting companies on their sustainability reporting needs, joined the group to inform the business community about TNFD and to get their feedback during the scheduled consultation calls. The aim of the consultation group call is to disseminate ongoing revisions to the TNFD framework and get feedback from stakeholders including business, investors and regulators.
The consultation group was initially formed in December of 2022 with WBCSD mobilizing its regional network in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region to gather their support and cooperation to the TNFD Framework Development. After the initial meeting, most of the regional network members expressed positive feedback, Thus, three virtual consultation group calls were scheduled from February to May 2023. Aside from BSD, other WBCSD Asean members who agreed to support were BCSD Malaysia and Indonesia BCSD. Private companies and organizations such as the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, SCG, Petronas, Ayala Corporation, Deloitte and April among others pledged their support.
The first consultation workshop was held on February 28, 2023. There were over 300 participants who registered for the ASEAN Consultation Group Call – Session 1. There were 40 companies and/or representatives coming from the Philippines. During this session, an overview of TNFD’s updates were explained by Guy Williams from Deloitte. “You are more likely on the journey towards preparing for the TNFD, including progress on net zero, and initiatives being taken through environmental regulation and as a leader in your industry” Williams stated. Towards the highlight of the workshop, PETRONAS presented their Nature and Biodiversity efforts.
The latest update on the workshop occurred last April 4, 2023, which was the 2nd session for the ASEAN Consultation Group Call. There were three companies who presented their TNFD trial to the participants. City Developments Limited, Charoen Pokphand Group and IOI (Industrial Oxygen Incorporated Sdn Bhd) were among the companies who shared their experiences with trying the TNFD framework. Malika Bhandarkar from TNFD provided the latest updates on the framework. Ending the second session, Harold Pauwels from GRI gave an update on the Biodiversity 304 sector. “There’s one comment in the chat which says that ‘Nature is complicated but TNFD doesn’t have to be’, there are some simple steps that you can take in your business which can help you to understand and manage your risk and dependencies” closing message of Joe Phelan.
The last consultation call will be on May 17, 2023. This will wrap up all the feedback and progress made during the entire consultation process with the ASEAN region. To contribute to the v0.4 Beta Release, feedback will be accepted here. The deadline for the feedback will be on June 1, 2023.