Australia needs more consistency when it comes to reporting and assessing climate action across the corporate landscape, says the former Reserve Bank of Australia deputy chief Dr Guy Debelle.

Debelle, who was tipped to be the next Reserve Bank governor before he resigned earlier this year and moved to Fortescue Future Industries, told a conference of company directors earlier this morning that Australia is lacking when it comes to consistent climate reporting.

“I think one of the challenges is to come up with a consistent way of looking at this rather than having everyone pick and choose,” he said.

“I think that’s been a bit lacking … there is still a ways to go, and hopefully we will be there in the next year or so, in terms of greater consistency in the financial reporting and assessment.”

He said that the conversation around climate change for companies had moved from simply setting targets, to discussions about how firms plan to get there.

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“I think we’re really at the point now where people have to articulate the decarbonisation strategies to achieve those goals and to highlight exactly how much it’s going to cost and … what the benefits are as well,” he said.

In March, the US Securities and Exchange Commission announced a plan to require publicly listed companies to disclose climate-related risks to their business.

The proposal draws from the approach of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), an international framework used by thousands of companies in 92 countries.

The influential Australian Council of Superannuation Investors has called for TCFD reporting to be mandatory in Australia, to make it easier for investors to assess the merits of a company’s disclosures.