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The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has released a draft guide for jurisdictions seeking to adopt its standards, in a bid to accelerate their uptake around the world.
The International Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS), the non-profit behind the ISSB, said it aimed to publish a finalised version of the guide later in the first half of this year.
Released at the IFRS Sustainability Symposium in New York on 22 February, the guide steers regulators and policymakers through the process of adopting the ISSB standards, from developing a policy rationale to identifying any legal or regulatory issues that may arise.
“The IFRS Foundation is committed to continuing to engage with and support regulators and other relevant authorities, including national standard-setters, as they adopt or otherwise use the ISSB Standards,” it said in the guide, adding that it would offer training and capacity building to jurisdictions seeking to apply them.
The IFRS also said it plans to create individual profiles for each jurisdiction that has signed up to the standards, setting out their progress for investors, regulators and other stakeholders.
The draft includes details on proportionality mechanisms that are being put in place in acknowledgment of factors that could make applying the standards more difficult for some, such as the prohibitive cost, the quality of data available in their markets, or a lack of access to necessary expertise.
Set up at Cop26 in Scotland in 2021, the ISSB was created with a view to establishing a global baseline for sustainability disclosures so that investors can better compare the environmental impact of companies the world over.
As of December last year, nearly 400 organisations from 64 jurisdictions have committed to the adoption or use of the standards, including various financial regulators from Asia to Europe and Africa, and more than 25 stock exchanges.
Alongside the draft guide for jurisdictions, the IFRS published a list of its ongoing and completed consultations with industry and government bodies worldwide.
This page was last updated February 26, 2024
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Katy Lee has been a writer for Green Central Banking since early 2024, focused on our Asia coverage. A Paris-based journalist who has written for major international titles for more than a decade, she is the co-host of The Europeans, an award-winning podcast about Europe which often covers environmental issues.
