NiMet DG urges FRC to incorporate environmental factors
NiMet
NiMet DG urges FRC to incorporate environmental factors
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Director General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Prof Charles Anosike, has urged the Financial Reporting Council to align its efforts with climate reporting initiatives by incorporating environmental factors.
Anosike while speaking at the Regulatory Roundtable on the implementation of the International Sustainability Standards Board sustainable reporting in Nigeria which was organised by the FRC on Thursday, stated that financial regulators must take into account environmental variables, such as fluctuations in precipitation and temperature, alongside water availability and the broader climate science that informs strategies for adaptation and mitigation.
He said, “It is incumbent for financial regulators to include environmental factors such as accounting for precipitation and temperature variability in addition to water availability and the overall climate science that supports adaptation and mitigation measures.”
He however commended the FRC and the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Rabiu Olowo, for holding the roundtable, he advised the financial regulators and other stakeholders to merge climate risk management in their financial reporting.
“This is a great feat by the FRC and the Executive Secretary/CEO, Dr. Rabiu Olowo. I have been in the sustainability profession for quite a while now and we couldn’t get this done over ten years ago.
“Climate change has become a top priority for our leaders in financial institutions. Because climate change is a threat multiplier, it calls for a new epistemology of risk that acknowledges not just the uncertainty but also the anthropogenic factors. The systemic risk of climate change explains why it is in the interest of regulators to ensure that climate risks, both current and future, are identified and disclosed by institutions,” he added.
He noted that due to the strategic importance of climate risk, about transition to net zero, it is evident, that the regulators must integrate climate risk management.
