AFI Member Workshop for Policymakers on Making Climate Risk Disclosures Work for MSMEs

Climate change remains a top priority for nations worldwide, as they grapple with its adverse effects such as property damage, livelihood destruction, population displacement, and reduced agricultural output threatening food security and national income. In pursuit of the global goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050, governments, national authorities, and businesses are implementing measures to reduce carbon emissions from their operations and supply chains. Transparency and disclosure are emphasized to encourage cleaner economies. To this end, the International Sustainability Standards Board are spearheading the adoption of global standards for sustainability disclosures. The ISSB’s standards aim to establish a common global baseline for disclosures and strengthen the comparability, consistency, and decision-usefulness of climate-related financial disclosures.

The objective of the workshop is to enable participants to complete the development of the framework for climate risk disclosures and standards for MSMEs for their respective jurisdictions, within an agreed timeframe. The enabling objectives of the workshop are to ensure that by the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

• Identify the key components and provisions of climate risk disclosures standards
• Evaluate challenges faced by MSMEs in complying with climate related disclosure standards and reporting requirements
• Develop a list of principles and processes for the development of climate disclosure standards for MSMEs