<p>New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law that will require banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business, minister for climate change James Shaw said on Tuesday.</p>.<p>All banks with total assets of more than NZ$1 billion ($703 million), insurers with more than NZ$1 billion in total assets under management, and all equity and debt issuers listed on the country's stock exchange will have to make disclosures.</p>.<p>"We simply cannot get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 unless the financial sector knows what impact their investments are having on the climate," Shaw said in a statement.</p>.<p>"This law will bring climate risks and resilience into the heart of financial and business decision making."</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/climate-change-rich-poor-gap-conflict-likely-to-grow-us-intelligence-report-972175.html">Climate change, rich-poor gap, conflict likely to grow: US intelligence report</a></strong></p>.<p>The bill, which has been introduced to the country's parliament and is expected to receive its first reading this week, requires financial firms to explain how they would manage climate-related risks and opportunities.</p>.<p>Around 200 of the country's biggest companies and several foreign firms that meet the NZ$1 billion threshold will come under the legislation.</p>.<p>Disclosures will be required for financial years beginning next year once the law is passed, meaning that the first reports will be made by companies in 2023.</p>.<p>The New Zealand government last September said it would make the financial sector report on climate risks and those unable to disclose would have to explain their reasons.</p>.<p>The New Zealand government has introduced several policies to lower emissions during its second term including promising to make its pubic sector carbon-neutral by 2025 and buy only zero-emissions public transport buses from the middle of this decade.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who returned to power last October delivering the biggest election victory for her centre-left Labour Party in half a century, had called climate change the "nuclear free moment of our generation."</p>
<p>New Zealand has become the first country to introduce a law that will require banks, insurers and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business, minister for climate change James Shaw said on Tuesday.</p>.<p>All banks with total assets of more than NZ$1 billion ($703 million), insurers with more than NZ$1 billion in total assets under management, and all equity and debt issuers listed on the country's stock exchange will have to make disclosures.</p>.<p>"We simply cannot get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 unless the financial sector knows what impact their investments are having on the climate," Shaw said in a statement.</p>.<p>"This law will bring climate risks and resilience into the heart of financial and business decision making."</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/climate-change-rich-poor-gap-conflict-likely-to-grow-us-intelligence-report-972175.html">Climate change, rich-poor gap, conflict likely to grow: US intelligence report</a></strong></p>.<p>The bill, which has been introduced to the country's parliament and is expected to receive its first reading this week, requires financial firms to explain how they would manage climate-related risks and opportunities.</p>.<p>Around 200 of the country's biggest companies and several foreign firms that meet the NZ$1 billion threshold will come under the legislation.</p>.<p>Disclosures will be required for financial years beginning next year once the law is passed, meaning that the first reports will be made by companies in 2023.</p>.<p>The New Zealand government last September said it would make the financial sector report on climate risks and those unable to disclose would have to explain their reasons.</p>.<p>The New Zealand government has introduced several policies to lower emissions during its second term including promising to make its pubic sector carbon-neutral by 2025 and buy only zero-emissions public transport buses from the middle of this decade.</p>.<p>Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who returned to power last October delivering the biggest election victory for her centre-left Labour Party in half a century, had called climate change the "nuclear free moment of our generation."</p>