New Sustainability Standards Board must act quickly
ICAS reacts to the establishment of the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
ICAS has welcomed the establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) under the auspices of the IFRS Foundation. The timing of the historic announcement coincides with the UK’s hosting of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
Bruce Cartwright CA, ICAS Chief Executive, stated: “ICAS welcomes the historic establishment of the ISSB. The existential threats from climate change to our planet have never been clearer and corporate reporting has a key role to play in helping to place greater accountability on to corporates to provide the high-quality information that investors and other stakeholders require to properly assess corporate performance. Whilst its initial primary focus must be to look to achieve greater international consistency in relation to reporting on the impact of climate change, it must also look to set consistent requirements in other key areas of sustainability including biodiversity and nature loss.”
He added: “Global threats require global solutions. The International Sustainability Standards Board must hit the ground running and deliver the high quality standards that will serve the public interest.”
What is the International Sustainability Standards Board and what is its remit?
The formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) was announced by the IFRS Foundation on 3 November 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow. The ISSB will develop - in the public interest - standards that result in a high quality, comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures for the financial markets.
The intention is for the ISSB’s standards to cover all sustainability topics (environmental, social, governance - ESG) on which investors want information. It will begin with climate, due to the urgent need for information on climate-related matters. It is also the intention that the ISSB will develop both thematic and industry-based requirements.
The ISSB will build on the work of existing investor-focused reporting initiatives, including the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Value Reporting Foundation’s Integrated Reporting Framework and SASB Standards, and the World Economic Forum’s Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, to become the global standard-setter for sustainability disclosures for the financial markets.
Read more from the IFRS Foundation on its sustainability hub.
