The Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, has called on financial regulators and other stakeholders to integrate climate risk management in their financial reporting.

Anosike spoke yesterday as the guest of honour at the regulatory roundtable on implementing International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) sustainability reporting in Nigeria, organised by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC).

He commended the FRC, and the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Rabiu Olowo, for holding the roundtable.  Anosike said: “This is a great feat by the FRC and Dr Olowo. I have been in the sustainability profession for quite a while and we couldn’t get this done over 10 years ago.

“Climate change has become a top priority for our leaders in financial institutions. Climate change is a threat multiplier. Therefore, it calls for a new epistemology of risk that acknowledges not just the uncertainty but also the anthropogenic factors. The systemic risk of climate change explains why it is in the interest of regulators to ensure that climate risks, both current and future, are identified and disclosed by institutions.”

He said that due to the strategic importance of climate risk, which has to do with transitioning to net zero, it is evident that the regulators must integrate climate risk management.