Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, is to head a new global taskforce aimed at highlighting the financial exposure of companies to the risk of climate change.

Investors, insurers, banks and consumers will be provided with more information under plans for a voluntary industry-led code announced by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the G20 body that monitors and makes recommendations about the financial system, at the COP21 Paris climate change conference on Friday.

It’s critical that industries and investors understand the risks posed by climate change, but currently there is too little transparency about those risks

Announcing the decision, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England and FSB chair, said the industry-led body would help the financial markets understand mounting climate-change risks.