Of general interest to members, but especially those in the corporate sector
The International Sustainability Standards Board, which was established at COP26 to develop a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures for the capital markets has released two initial proposed sustainability standards:
IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information
IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures
The former sets out general sustainability-related disclosure requirements and the latter specifies climate-related disclosure requirements. Consultations are open until July and the Board aims to finalise these standards by 2023.
The proposals―exposure drafts—build upon the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and incorporate industry-based disclosure requirements derived from SASB Standards.
According to the Press release, “When the ISSB issues the final requirements, they will form a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures designed to meet the information needs of investors in assessing enterprise value. The ISSB is working closely with other international organisations and jurisdictions to support the inclusion of the global baseline into jurisdictional requirements.
The ISSB is seeking feedback on the proposals over a 120-day consultation period closing on 29 July 2022. It will review feedback on the proposals in the second half of 2022 and aims to issue the new Standards by the end of the year, subject to the feedback.”
The announcement explains some context behind the development of these Standards: requests from G20 leaders, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and others for enhanced information from companies on sustainability-related risks and opportunities.
The Institute will be considering its response to these standards. Any members with views on this issue are asked to contact policy@cgi.org.uk in order to support our response.
The announcement can be found at: IFRS - ISSB delivers proposals that create comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures
And the two standards at:
IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information
