Automating Literature Review, Risk Assessment, and External Communications for TNFD Report Disclosure Scheduled for This Year Using Agentic AI to Revolutionize Information Disclosure

NEC will utilize Agentic AI in creating its Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) report, which is scheduled for disclosure later this year. As part of its "Client Zero" initiative—where NEC implements advanced technologies internally before offering them to clients—the company is applying Agentic AI to the TNFD report preparation process. This includes developing functionalities to handle five key tasks: research, risk and opportunity identification, risk assessment, writing and review, and external communications. By leveraging Agentic AI, NEC aims to improve the efficiency and sophistication of TNFD reporting operations. The technology has already proven effective in research and external communications, and NEC plans to extend its application to other sustainability disclosure areas, such as compliance with the Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ) and responses to rating agency surveys.

Background

Corporate sustainability departments are increasingly burdened by responding to rapidly evolving global disclosure requirements. Moreover, the guidance and indicators related to TNFD are still under development, requiring specialized knowledge for accurate evaluation and reporting.

In July 2023, NEC became the first in Japan’s IT industry to publish a TNFD report. By June 2024, NEC released its second edition incorporating the final v1.0 recommendations. The company has also presented its work at international forums, such as the G7 Nature Positive Alliance session at COP16, sharing its advanced practices in disclosure.

Building on this track record and the insights gained through global collaboration, NEC is now leveraging Agentic AI to further streamline and enhance the TNFD report creation process.

Overview of Agentic AI

Agentic AI will enable users to complete five essential tasks—research, risk and opportunity identification, risk assessment, writing and review, and external communications—simply through chat-based interaction.

Agentic AI has already been employed for research and external communications. In research, it reduced the time required to read and understand specialized guidance by 92% (from 198 hours to 16.5 hours). It also automatically organized global disclosure cases and conducted gap analysis with NEC's disclosures, leading to improved assessment quality.

Agentic AI also incorporates insights gained from NEC’s involvement in international rule-making, such as the TNFD’s Nature Data Public Facility and the World Economic Forum’s Nature Positive Transitions guidance for the technology sector.

Future Outlook

NEC plans to apply the expertise and know-how gained from this TNFD report project to future efforts, including SSBJ compliance, rating agency survey responses, human rights themes, and economic security initiatives. NEC remains committed to leading in corporate disclosure and will continue to support business transformation by leveraging its accumulated experience from the “Client Zero” initiative.

Notes
[1] TNFD: Taskforce on Nature‑related Financial Disclosures
[2] Press Release: “NEC Publishes Second Edition of TNFD Report”
NEC publishes TNFD Report (2nd Edition): Press Releases | NEC
[3] G7 Alliance on Nature Positive Economies