How can the climate impact on IAS 32 be mitigated?
The potential climate impact on IAS 32 can be mitigated through various actions, including:
- Climate risk assessment: Entities can conduct a climate risk assessment to identify and evaluate the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on their financial instruments. This can help entities to assess the potential impairment, fair value measurement, and offsetting criteria for financial instruments under IAS 32.
- Accounting policies: Entities can develop accounting policies related to the classification, measurement, and presentation of financial instruments that consider climate-related risks and opportunities. This can help entities to ensure that their financial statements provide relevant and reliable information to users of the financial statements.
- Scenario analysis: Entities can perform scenario analysis to assess the potential impact of different climate-related scenarios on their financial instruments. This can help entities to identify the sensitivity of their financial instruments to different climate-related risks and opportunities.
- Disclosures: Entities can provide disclosures related to the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on their financial instruments. This can include disclosures related to the assessment of impairment, fair value measurement, and offsetting criteria for financial instruments under IAS 32.
- Stakeholder engagement: Entities can engage with stakeholders, such as investors, regulators, and non-governmental organizations, to understand their expectations related to the consideration of climate-related risks and opportunities in the classification, measurement, and presentation of financial instruments under IAS 32.
Overall, mitigating the climate impact on IAS 32 requires entities to consider the potential impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on their financial instruments and to take appropriate actions to provide relevant and reliable information to users of the financial statements.
Here's an example of how an entity can mitigate the climate impact on IAS 32:
Suppose a bank holds a portfolio of loans to companies in the energy sector, including fossil fuel companies that are vulnerable to climate-related risks, such as the transition to a low-carbon economy and physical risks from extreme weather events. The bank is concerned that these loans may be impacted by climate-related risks, which may affect the classification, measurement, and presentation of the loans under IAS 32.
To mitigate the climate impact on IAS 32, the bank could take the following actions:
- Climate risk assessment: The bank could conduct a climate risk assessment to identify and evaluate the impact of climate-related risks on its loans to energy companies. This could involve analyzing the exposure of the loans to physical risks, such as floods and wildfires, and transition risks, such as changes in regulations and market demand for fossil fuels.
- Accounting policies: The bank could develop accounting policies related to the classification, measurement, and presentation of its loans to energy companies that consider climate-related risks and opportunities. This could include incorporating scenarios related to the transition to a low-carbon economy and the impact of physical risks on the loans.
- Scenario analysis: The bank could perform scenario analysis to assess the potential impact of different climate-related scenarios on its loans to energy companies. This could involve modeling the potential impact of carbon pricing and the transition to a low-carbon economy on the loans.
- Disclosures: The bank could provide disclosures related to the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on its loans to energy companies. This could include disclosures related to the assessment of impairment, fair value measurement, and offsetting criteria for the loans under IAS 32.
- Stakeholder engagement: The bank could engage with stakeholders, such as investors and regulators, to understand their expectations related to the consideration of climate-related risks and opportunities in the classification, measurement, and presentation of financial instruments under IAS 32. This could involve disclosing the results of the climate risk assessment and scenario analysis to stakeholders.
By taking these actions, the bank can mitigate the climate impact on IAS 32 and provide relevant and reliable information to users of the financial statements about the impact of climate-related risks and opportunities on its loans to energy companies.