New Zealand will force the financial sector to report on the environmental impact of its investments | Unprecedented action

became New Zealand The first country to require the financial sector to report the environmental impact of its investments, after approving a law proposed by the Executive, led by Jacinda Ardern.

“We have an opportunity to pave the way for other countries to make disclosures mandatory on the impact on climate. Climate Change Minister James Shaw said New Zealand is a world leader on this and the first country in the world to require the financial sector to report on it.

The peripheral country will also force banks, insurance companies and investment managers to clarify How they will manage the risks and opportunities associated with impacts on the environment.

“Services and financial markets play an important role in New Zealand’s transition to a green and carbon-neutral future,” Commerce and Consumer Minister David Clark said in the same statement.

What does the law say?

The law assumes that 200 entities in the country are reporting as of 2023 and will affect all banks, Registered credit unions and mortgage credit associations, as well as investment managers and insurance companies with total assets of over NZ$1 billion (US$717 million or €616 million).

The new rules will also affect For all issuers of equity and debt listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and New Zealand, as well as public companies worth over NZ$1 billion.

The Ardern Labor government has pledged to do so New Zealand to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 Because more than half of the country’s cars will be electric in 2035. And in December it also declared a climate emergency in its territory.