Establishment of Sustainability Standards Board expected by COP26 in November 2021.
The Trustees of the IFRS Foundation reviewed responses to the body’s consultation paper for a global sustainability standard published in December last year, and mapped out the next steps toward taking a leading role in creating a universal framework for corporate reporting on sustainability issues.
In a meeting yesterday, trustees discussed the first three questions posed in the paper: the level of demand for global sustainability standards; whether the IFRS Foundation should play a role; and the scope of the role the IFRS Foundation should have throughout the process.
The IFRS Foundation Trustees will next meet March 2-4, with the intention of producing a proposal and road map for a global sustainability standard by the end of September. The Sustainability Standards Board – widely supported across the investment industry – will be established in time for COP26 in November.
“The responses indicate growing and urgent demand to improve the global consistency and comparability in sustainability reporting, as well as strong recognition that urgent steps need to be taken and broad demand for the IFRS Foundation to play a role in this,” the Trustees said.
First issued in September 2020, the IFRS Foundation’s suggestions for a global sustainability standard have been backed by the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) and ‘the group of five’ reporting standards organisations, which have recently released a prototype framework for a global sustainability standard, implementing the IFRS Foundation’s proposals.
