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Non-financial reporting frameworks
Sarah Dunn explains the drive towards a single non-financial reporting framework for sustainability.
In January 2020, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President announced that the European Commission (EC) would support a process to develop European non-financial reporting standards. Soon after, the EC issued a public consultation on the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive, seeking views on a number of matters, including whether a European non-financial reporting standard should be developed and, if so, which existing frameworks could be used as a basis for such a standard.
The Accountancy Europe and EC approaches demonstrate two possible solutions to developing greater cohesion in ESG reporting – global and regional. Each has its own merits and drawbacks, and it may be that the path to cohesion falls somewhere in between. Although the final outcome is not clear, what is apparent is the real sense of urgency and backing from stakeholders to start work on finding a solution sooner rather than later.