(5 Dec 2023, Dubai, UAE) Dubai Financial Markets (DFM) hosted a UN Global Compact SDG Investment Forum as a side event to the United Nations climate change conference (COP28) together with the UN SSE initiative and UN Global Compact. The SSE convened capital market stakeholders for a session titled “A Primer for the Adoption of the ISSB Standards”.
The panel discussion was moderated by Anthony Miller, Chief Coordinator, UN SSE, who opened the session by introducing two keynote addresses, one by Rodrigo Buenaventura, Chair of the IOSCO Sustainable Finance Task Force and one by Mardi McBrien, Chief of Strategic Affairs, IFRS Foundation.
“At COP28, we are happy to celebrate the progress towards the consolidation of global sustainability reporting standards. In the past, a discussion on this topic was too often dominated by confusion between different standards. With the launch of the new ISSB standards earlier this year, we see the world rallying behind a new global baseline in sustainability reporting. So now our focus needs to be on adoption and implementation, and the crucial capacity building work that will accelerate this process.” said Anthony Miller.
“Sustainability reporting is important because it is the foundation for investors to take decisions on where they want to put their money, and therefore how the portfolios are being reallocated and will be reallocated in the coming decades. As such, it is an essential element, to have a system of trust that the information that those investors are using to make decisions is robust, is comparable, is verified,” said Rodrigo Buenaventura. “Green finance and sustainability reporting cannot actually produce shifts in portfolios if there are no incentives for those investors, or no obligations for the corporates to stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere. Therefore, without the politics, there will simply be an empty pipeline, with no funds going through it.”
“Building on what Rodrigo was saying, what we want is for all large listed companies around the world to be reporting against the same standards so we can be comparing across jurisdictions. Building on that global baseline, we then have certain jurisdictional nuances. A great example of that is transition plans in the United Kingdom, where listed companies are asked to go further than what is required in the baseline standards,” said Mardi McBrien.
The keynote addresses were followed by a panel discussion highlighting key action areas for enhancing adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
“IOSCO endorsing these standards was very important to push towards adoption, but endorsement is not sufficient. We know that what we need is adoption, but also that regulators need help with that. That’s why we are working with the ISSB on capacity building to provide training on both what and how to adopt the standards,” said Kris Nathaniel, IOSCO Chief of Staff.
“At the London Stock Exchange Group, we’re looking at the standards as a listed company, as well as the venue for listed equities, fixed income and other securities […] The fact that over 80% of asset owners are investing using sustainability- and climate-related information, means we’ve got to be looking at data – its fundamental to the understanding of business to investors – but not enough data is being disclosed. That’s why these standards are so crucial, and why we need to think about how we can implement them at a fast pace,” said Claire Dorrian, Head of Sustainable Finance, LSEG. “Where we plan to spend a lot of our focus in 2024 is a call to action to report against ISSB and to make that mandatory on a 2025 basis, and I think it's important that it’s economy wide. It isn’t just about public companies, it is about private companies as well.”
“Today investors look at the ESG (environmental, social and governance factors) to identify the risks associated with their investments, because many of the mainstream risks are not captured by the financial reporting. Thanks to the IFRS S1 and S2, we have now a framework for that. You’ve set the pathway, making the engagement with the issuers now more efficient,” said DFM CFO Mr. Al Hashimi.
“To support stock exchanges in providing guidance to their markets, we are very pleased to be launching here at COP28 a Model Guidance that exchanges can use as a template to ensure globally consistent yet locally relevant guidance on the IFRS’ new standards,” said Tiffany Grabski, SSE Academy Head. “However, guidance is not enough – which is why we are working with IFRS Foundation and our Partner Exchanges to provide training around the world on applying the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.”
Webinar
Following the panel discussion, the SSE co-hosted a webinar with the ESG Exchange on climate disclosure. The webinar built on the panel discussion, with Tiffany Grabski (SSE), Mardi McBrien (IFRS Foundation) and Rodrigo Buenaventura (IOSCO) and webinar moderator Peadar Duffy (The ESG Exchange) joining a virtual panel. The panel included virtual participation from Jean Bouquot, Deputy President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Sandy Nessing, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of American Electric Power, and Shameela Soobramoney, CEO of National Business Initiative, South Africa.
SSE Academy Head Tiffany Grabski joins panel participants Mardi McBrien (IFRS Foundation) and Rodrigo Buenaventura (IOSCO) for a webinar on climate reporting hosted by ESG Exchange
The webinar discussion highlighted the essential need for consistent application of the ISSB Standards globally, and the ongoing need for rapid, global capacity building and training. The IFRS Foundation is working with the SSE, IOSCO and IFAC, as well as numerous other institutions to ensure consistent capacity building throughout the capital market ecosystem.
“While we agree that we need global capacity building to pick up pace – we also need to ensure that we’re being rigorous and true to the standards when training market participants,” said Ms. Grabski. “This is why we greatly value our collaboration with the IFRS Foundation to ensure that our training is rigorous and expert-led, bringing the experts that develop the standards, directly to market participants.”
To find out more about the SSE's training in collaboration with the IFRS Foundation and other partners, visit www.sseintiative.org/academy.
