Mark Carney, the United Nations special envoy for climate and finance, called on stock exchanges around the world to support companies in trying to improve environmental data.
Carney, who until recently was Governor of the Bank of England, supported a framework from the Task Force on Climate Financial Information (TCFD), which helps businesses identify what information to share.
While the TCFD is currently on a voluntary basis, Carney has abandoned the idea of making it mandatory and is keen to see more adoption to help investors make more informed decisions for better climate risk assessment.
Ahead of the next round of UN climate negotiations to be held in Scotland next year - COP26 - Carney and David Schwimmer, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) LSEG.L, have written to a number of stock exchanges to urge them to provide help to companies.
The initiative, which will be chaired by the LSE, aims to develop guidelines for best practice reports on climate disclosure, which can be used by companies wherever they are listed, to ensure globally consistent disclosures in line with the TCFD.
"Ensuring that every professional financial decision takes into account the risks and opportunities of climate change is a key objective of COP 26," the letter said, seen by Reuters.
"The work of the stock exchanges in supporting the widespread adoption of TCFD reports is critical in this regard."
Jack Ehnes, CEO of the US CalSTRS pension system, also supported the decision.
“Institutional investors like CalSTRS need globally consistent, high-quality climate and sustainability data to make the right investment decisions.
"Exchanges can play a vital role in improving data and strengthening global standards."