Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized Issue 11 2024

10 QUICK LINKS CULTURE CRYPTOASSETS ELTIFS EMIR FINANCIAL STABILITY BOARD FINTECH MIFID II/MIFIR OPERATIONAL RESILIENCE SUSTAINABILITY T+1 ASIA/PACIFIC EUROPE LUXEMBOURG NORTH AMERICA UNITED KINGDOM Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services Bite-Sized | Issue 11 | 2024 GFANZ Consultation on Index Guidance to Support Real-Economy Decarbonisation On 9 October 2024, GFANZ launched a public consultation paper on voluntary guidance on the development of “transition-informed” indices to support the global transition to net zero – the ‘Index Guidance to Support Real-Economy Decarbonisation.’ GFANZ says that the consultation paper outlines potential guidance index participants (index providers, data providers, stock exchanges, asset owners, asset managers and other investors) may take to voluntarily and independently develop and adopt indices that support real-economy decarbonisation. Known collectively as “transition-informed” indices, GFANZ says that these new index categories include: • “Transition-potential” indices include companies that demonstrate the potential to align with the net-zero transition in a time-bound manner as well as those companies that are included in “transition-engaged” indices; • “Transition-engaged” indices include companies that are “In development”, Aligning or Aligned to net zero, or are a Climate Solution; and • “Net-zero” indices that only include companies that are Aligned or a Climate Solution. GFANZ says that the consultation paper proposes draft guidance to help index participants develop and adopt these “transition-informed” indices, creating a pathway for index participants to engage with companies now and help support companies’ real-economy decarbonisation. GFANZ states that the consultation paper aims to provide: a rationale for “transition-informed” indices, working towards alignment with a real-economy transition to net zero by 2050; voluntary guidance for index participants on the development and implementation of such indices; and identifies further areas of work required, particularly around improvements in data availability, quality, and comparability. The consultation is open until 9 January 2025, and feedback received will inform the final paper, which will be released in late Q1 2025. Link to Consultation here TNFD Publishes Draft Guidance on Nature Transition Planning at COP16 On 27 October 2024, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) published a discussion paper that sets out draft guidance on nature transition planning for corporates and financial institutions developing and disclosing a transition plan in line with the TNFD recommended disclosures. The TNFD says that in developing this draft guidance, it has built on current market practice for climate transition planning, particularly on the work of the GFANZ and on the recommendations of the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT) for climate transition plan disclosure. The TNFD says that this is helping it facilitate an integrated approach to transition planning and disclosure. The TNFD says that the GFANZ has published voluntary guidance for consultation on incorporating nature into net zero transition plans for financial institutions. The TNFD’s says its draft guidance builds on GFANZ’s work by covering aspects of nature transition plans beyond climate and addressing the needs of both financial institutions and corporates. The TNFD says that it welcomes feedback on the approach outlined in this discussion paper by 1 February 2025 from corporates, financial institutions and other interested stakeholders. Link to Discussion Paper here TNFD Releases Draft Roadmap for Enhancing Market Access to High Quality Nature-related Data at COP16 On 26 October 2024, the TNFD released a discussion paper outlining a roadmap to upgrade market access to decision-useful nature-related data. The TNFD says that the roadmap takes a principles-based approach to identifying medium- to long-term strategic enhancements across the nature data value chain, and that it outlines three key priorities which will be the focus of pilot testing in 2025 before a final set of recommendations are put forward in late 2025. These are: