The Swiss government announced its planned timeline for mandated climate disclosure for major companies, joining the ranks of countries boosting sustainability reporting requirements.

According to the announcement by the Swiss Federal Council on Wednesday, public companies, banks and insurance companies with 500 or more employees, more than CHF 20 million in total assets or more than CHF 40 million in turnover will be required to report publicly on climate issues in 2024 (on 2023 financial year events), utilizing Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)-aligned disclosures.

The TCFD was established by the Financial Stability Board in 2015, with the goal of developing consistent disclosure standards for companies, in order to enable investors and other stakeholders to assess the companies’ climate-related financial risk. The recommendations were published in June 2017.

Reporting under the new mandate will include not only issues related to financial risk facing companies as a result of climate change, but also the impact of company activities on climate and the environment.

The Swiss initiative comes amidst moves by several countries and jurisdictions to include climate and other ESG factors in the disclosures provided by companies. In May of this year, President Biden signed an executive order calling on the US financial regulators to consider plans to improve climate-related disclosures, and to incorporate climate-related financial risk into regulatory and supervisory practices. The move also brings Switzerland in line with other jurisdictions’ mandated sustainability reporting rules, including the UK and European Union.