[Source: BBC]
New Zealand is to become the world’s first country to bring in a law forcing its financial firms to report on the effects of climate change.
The country wants to be carbon neutral by 2050 and says the financial sector needs to play its part.
Banks, insurers and fund managers can do this by knowing the environmental effect of their investments, says its Climate Change Minister James Shaw.
Legislation is expected to receive its first reading this week.
Shaw says this law will bring climate risks and resilience into the heart of financial and business decision making.
NZ Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden says they are serious about climate change.
About 200 of the country’s biggest companies and several foreign firms that meet the NZ$1bn threshold will come under the legislation.
