Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 12/2014

The Environmental Risk Disclosure Regime: Navigating Complexity in Global Financial Markets

Jason Thistlethwaite

October 2014

Centre for International Governance Innovation

Abstract

In recent years, a plurality of different governance initiatives has emerged that are designed to expand the disclosure of environmental risk within financial markets. The emergence of these initiatives represents an important policy development, and it has the potential to reduce environmental risk within the financial sector by incentivizing investments in sustainable economic activity capable of long-term value creation. Unfortunately, environmental risk disclosure has yet to be assessed as a field of governance activity in addition to its potential effectiveness in improving disclosure within financial markets.