UNDP Joins the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD) as Newest Member of the Interim Secretariat

NEW YORK, Nov. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD), a global collaborative effort to develop a systemic risk management framework that can reduce socio-economic inequality created by the private sector, today announced that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has joined the Interim Secretariat. 

The announcement will be formally made at TIFD's second Global Allies Meeting on November 3, where TIFD stakeholders from civil society, financial institutions, companies, academia, and governments will gather to learn about updates on the development of TIFD and deliberate on next steps based on lessons from other frameworks.

Established in 2021, the TIFD Interim Secretariat comprises the Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI), Predistribution Initiative (PDI), Rights CoLab, the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS), and now the UNDP. Each of these organizations has experience working with a variety of stakeholder groups, including investors, to address inequality. The Interim Secretariat continues to evaluate opportunities to integrate diverse representation into the governance of the framework.

The broader TIFD coalition also includes the 70+ organizations that have signed on as TIFD Allies, signaling their support for TIFD's work. Allies and other stakeholders may also choose to participate in one or more working groups. The growing list of TIFD Allies is available at https://thetifd.org/tifd-allies. 

"UNDP brings an important perspective on international development and the diverse economic needs of communities around the world, including through their leadership in helping countries make progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," said the TIFD Interim Secretariat in a joint statement. "Additionally, UNDP's experience working with policymakers and regulators, as well as through international partnerships, makes them an ideal partner in TIFD's work to build the broad coalition of market actors needed to co-create a TIFD framework."

"We are excited to work with TIFD to explore how inequality-related risks can quickly translate to business risks and develop tools to help manage and reduce these systemic risks from negatively impacting corporates and investors," said Marcos Neto, Director at UNDP's Sustainable Finance Hub.

Additionally, Pedro Conceicao, Director of the Human Development Report Office at UNDP, remarked: "Firms, workers, and governments share an interest in operating in social contexts where people can thrive and feel secure. This is reflected, for instance, in many social insurance initiatives, to which all three contribute, so that people can better cope with economic volatility. With some inequalities in human development persisting or increasing, it is timely to have a reflection on the implications of these inequalities for financial risk, as well as on how to account for and disclose these risks."

TIFD is inspired by similar efforts to address climate-related risks via the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and nature-related risks via the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), and aims to be interoperable with these frameworks, as well as other leading frameworks including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). 

Alongside investors, companies, and other stakeholders, TIFD is intentionally engaging with those most affected by inequality, particularly civil society organizations and individuals representing marginalized groups across both the Global North and Global South. To drive progress beyond disclosure, TIFD will also provide guidance on thresholds, targets, and metrics for companies and investors to measure and manage their impacts on inequality and inequality's effects on company and investor performance.

The TIFD framework will help businesses, investors, regulators, policymakers and other market actors to identify enterprise-level risks, systemic and systematic risks, and salient human rights risks. This inclusive design process ensures that TIFD will be able to adapt to different stakeholder needs and interpretations of materiality as the market evolves.

Learn more about TIFD at www.thetifd.org and register to meet us at the November 3rd Global Allies Meeting.

TIFD was conceived in 2020 to meet the market need for a systemic risk management framework that can help reduce inequality created by the private sector. TIFD will provide guidance on thresholds, targets, and metrics for companies and investors to measure and manage their inequality-related risks, including a focus on how inequality affects company performance, how inequality contributes to market-wide system-level risks and therefore affects investor performance, and how private sector activity can exacerbate inequality. 

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

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SOURCE Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures (TIFD)