IFRS Sketches Next Steps for Work on Global Sustainability Standards
The Trustees of IFRS Foundation announced next steps in response to the broad demand for global sustainability standards. The Trustees met in February 2021 to review responses received to the consultation paper on sustainability reporting. The responses indicated growing and urgent demand to improve the global consistency and comparability in sustainability reporting. The responses also indicated a strong recognition that urgent steps need to be taken and showed a broad demand for the IFRS Foundation to play a role in this development. The Trustees agreed to undertake further detailed analysis of feedback on the requirements for success and other conditions to be satisfied prior to consideration of whether to establish a new board.
The Trustees agreed on the formation of a Trustee Steering Committee to oversee the next phases of work, considering the need for urgency to deliver global standards, most notably to address climate issues. Given the growing and urgent demand, the intention is for the Trustees to produce a definitive proposal (including a roadmap with timeline) by the end of September 2021 and possibly leading to an announcement on the establishment of a sustainability standards board at the meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021.
In September 2020, in the context of its five-yearly strategy review, the IFRS Trustees had launched a consultation on sustainability reporting to determine whether there is a need for global sustainability standards, whether the IFRS Foundation should play a role in establishment of these standards, and what the scope of that role could be. Throughout the three-month consultation period, the Trustees led comprehensive outreach programs in their respective jurisdictions to inform their decision-making and to encourage broad participation across all geographies and stakeholder groups. This included more than 400 engagements across 33 jurisdictions, participation in more than 20 public events hosted by third parties, and the hosting of webinars that attracted more than 3,000 registered users. Following that outreach, the IFRS Foundation received 576 comment letters from a diverse set of organizations and individuals worldwide.
Keywords: International, Banking, Insurance, Securities, Reporting, Climate Change Risk, ESG, Sustainability Standards, IFRS, COP26, Sustainability Standards Board, IFRS
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