ISSB issues two new exposure drafts on climate and ESG disclosure; builds on SASB’s industry-based Standards
31 March 2022
Along with the release of the draft proposals that create a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosures, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Chair Emmanuel Faber and Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd have communicated plans for building upon the SASB Standards and upon embedding SASB’s industry-based standards development approach into the ISSB’s standards development process.
As the IFRS Foundation Trustees committed when launching the ISSB, it will build on the work of existing investor-focused reporting initiatives to become the global standard-setter for sustainability disclosures for the financial markets. The ISSB made substantial progress toward this goal this week when it issued exposure drafts of two proposed standards: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and Climate-related Disclosures. These exposure drafts consolidate content from the TCFD, CDSB, SASB, Integrated Reporting, and the WEF IBC’s stakeholder capitalism metrics into a coherent whole.
Emmanuel Faber, ISSB Chair, commented: ”We are convinced that the industry-based approach used to develop the SASB Standards is a market-validated model for the development of decision-useful and cost-effective sustainability disclosure standards. Therefore, I strongly encourage continued use of the SASB Standards and recognize their near-term priority role for preparers in the application of the proposed General Requirements Standard. Further enhancing and evolving the SASB Standards will be a priority for the ISSB, as embedding the industry-based approach in the work of the ISSB is essential to delivering Standards that support investors’ assessments of enterprise value across a broad range of sustainability issues.”
SSE and ESG reporting standards
SSE initiative follows the recent developments on ESG reporting standards and has facilitated discussions of the advancements among its network. In 2020, the UN SSE Consultative Group Q4 Call offered a chance to members to discuss the coordination, convergence, and alignment of ESG reporting standards with representatives of key standard setters by talking about the efforts of the “G5” group of organizations to establish sustainability standards and frameworks. For the next Q2 2022 Consultative Group Quarterly Call in May, the SSE will continue this discussion and talk about the recent developments, including the ISSB update, with representatives from ISSB. The SSE ESG Guidance Database tracks which exchanges have published ESG guidance, including an analysis of the reporting instruments most frequently cited by the guidance documents, including instruments from: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), CDP Worldwide, Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB).About the SSE
The SSE initiative is a UN Partnership Programme organised by UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, UNEP FI and the PRI. The SSE’s mission is to provide a global platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, companies (issuers), regulators, policymakers and relevant international organizations, can enhance performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SSE seeks to achieve this mission through an integrated programme of conducting evidence-based policy analysis, facilitating a network and forum for multi-stakeholder consensus-building, and providing technical assistance and advisory services.
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