In the US, carbon-intensive sectors have made risk factor disclosures related to climate change for years but very little of it has been decision useful. This is in part due to the general nature of “risk factor” disclosure.

Hot on the heels of a historic climate deal in Paris the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, two non-profits who seek to promote transparency in relation to climate risk, will in Davos launch proposals for risk reporting by fossil fuel companies.

This report is designed to challenge the conventional thinking and linear models which dominate the current scenarios for energy futures. The greatest risks and opportunities will arise from more dramatic shifts rather than business as usual or incremental change.

The market for thermal coal is in structural decline in the United States. Squeezed out by an abundance of cheap shale gas and ever tightening pollution laws, it may be a harbinger of things to come for other fossil fuel markets globally. This report paints a bleak picture and makes grim reading for investors.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, China has accounted for over four-fifths of global coal consumption growth, half of which is thermal coal used predominantly to fuel China’s coal-fired power generation fleet.