Ahead of Mizuho's attendance at this year's EuroFi conference in Copenhagen, our Sustainability Strategy team sat down with EuroFi magazine to discuss the EU Competitiveness Compass, sustainability reporting simplification, and global alignment through ISSB.
The EU’s efforts to simplify sustainability regulation to boost competitiveness are a welcome development for many. However, scaling back sustainability reporting should not be misinterpreted as a signal to scale back net zero commitments.
Instead, simplification offers the chance to build more resilient, efficient, and globally aligned sustainability reporting systems. It is also important for corporates and financial institutions to look beyond disclosure requirements and to consider the purpose of the information disclosed, which should convey strategic integration of sustainability and climate risk into the business model and decision-making processes.
"Sustainability and climate risk is increasingly being integrated into business strategy and risk management practices in a business-as-usual fashion. It is important for global banks to seize the opportunity to leverage global frameworks."
Marina Marecos,
Head of Sustainable Strategy
As a European entity of a global bank, headquartered in Japan, greater alignment between European sustainability frameworks and the global International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) would provide more consistency when reporting across different jurisdictions in the future.
At Mizuho, we are committed to advancing our approach to transition as well as our disclosures. We take an integrated approach to climate change mitigation where we have identified priorities, capture business opportunities, appropriately manage risks, strengthen engagement and build capabilities.
Our reporting approach reflects this; since our first TCFD report in 2017, we have steadily transformed our reporting from a compliance-driven exercise to a comprehensive, forward-looking approach that integrates climate, nature, and social impact into our core business strategy and signals our ambition transparently to stakeholders. As demonstrated by our latest Climate and Nature Report, this typically utilises a combination of reporting requirements and wider recommendations from acclaimed industry frameworks.