Territories that are looking to adopt the disclosure framework of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) can now refer to first-hand accounts of how others are going about it, following the publication of 17 jurisdictional profiles.

Issued on 12 June by ISSB parent body the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, the profiles contain details on each jurisdiction’s target for ISSB alignment, plus the current status of its sustainability-related disclosure requirements. 

In a statement, the IFRS Foundation explained that to be eligible for a profile, a jurisdiction must ensure that its approach to sustainability reporting within its regulatory framework is finalised and no longer subject to consultation. In other words, it has formally announced or decided upon its adoption or use of ISSB Standards – or has otherwise introduced sustainability-related disclosure requirements, including rules on which entities fall within their scope.

By providing information on settled plans and approaches, the profiles will serve as a reference for jurisdictions that have yet to embark on the journey towards the adoption or use of ISSB Standards. The profiles are aimed at investors, preparers, assurance providers and any other parties interested in sustainability-related financial disclosures.

The profiles follow on from the Foundation’s Inaugural Jurisdictional Guide for the adoption of ISSB Standards, published in May last year. For the Foundation, the profiles represent “a critical step in providing clarity about progress in achieving a global baseline of sustainability disclosures for capital markets”.

Investor interest

Jurisdictions covered in the 17 profiles are Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Hong Kong, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei, Tanzania, Turkey and Zambia. Within that set, 14 have set targets to fully adopt ISSB Standards, two aim to adopt the Standards’ climate requirements only, and one plans to partially incorporate the ISSB’s framework.

In the assessment, ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber says the Standards are bringing clarity to investors on the risks and opportunities that lie in value chains in a rapidly changing world.

“A year ago, we committed to publishing detailed jurisdictional profiles describing adoption of our Standards to complement our Inaugural Jurisdictional Guide,” he said. “The profiles provide a detailed current state-of-play to investors, banks and insurers who continue to struggle with the lack of appropriate, comparable and reliable information on these critical factors affecting business prospects. We have seen new jurisdictions joining the initial cohort of ISSB adopters every month, with a total of 36 today.”

Faber pointed out that global progress on the Standards has attracted a surge of interest from members of the Growth and Emerging Markets Committee at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

For Faber, this shows that an increasing number of regulators can see the policy rationale for the paced adoption of ISSB Standards to strengthen their jurisdictions’ access to capital and trade – enabling investors to make more informed decisions, and companies to attract finance.

The path to adoption

Alongside the profiles, the Foundation has published high-level ‘snapshots’ of progress in 16 further jurisdictions where approaches to sustainability disclosure have yet to be finalised. The UK is one of these 16, with the UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee (the TAC) recommending endorsement of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 for use in the UK, and with the UK Government expected to publish a consultation on the draft UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) shortly. 

Each snapshot previews the relevant jurisdiction’s proposed regulatory framework, based on a preliminary understanding of the proposals it has developed. As such, the snapshots may differ from the final rulesets of those locations – whether as a result of any fresh information that surfaces, or any changes the jurisdictions may make as to how they finalise their approach to sustainability-related disclosure. The Foundation will describe the territories’ final requirements in future jurisdictional profiles.

Meanwhile, the Foundation noted that it will continue to support jurisdictions through its Regulatory Implementation Programme and invest in expanding tools and resources it has provided to help territories that are considering ISSB adoption.

It pointed out that one, recent example of that support is the Roadmap Development Tool, which helps jurisdictions to navigate the primary considerations and decision points they are likely to face as they develop a pathway for adopting or using ISSB Standards.

• See the Foundation’s profiles and snapshots

As a global professional body, ICAEW members are located in all of the jurisdictions profiled. With more than 10,000 members across the 17 jurisdictions, including a high concentration in the ASEAN region, the profiles also serve as a reminder of the importance of members upskilling themselves in sustainability reporting and in particular the requirements of the ISSB’s Standards.

In addition to the IFRS Foundation’s own knowledge hub, ICAEW’s Sustainability Accelerator Programme offers up to 50 hours of flexible elearning resources including units on reporting and assurance. Available to all, the programme is free to all ICAEW members and students. 

Further sustainability reporting resources are available on ICAEW’s Non-financial reporting hub at icaew.com/nfr.