The ISSB Taxonomy will enable investors to search, extract and compare sustainability-related financial disclosures provided under the ISSB standards. The ISSB Taxonomy reflects IFRS S1, IFRS S2 and guidance accompanying the standards.

The ISSB Taxonomy is consistent with the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy so that entities can provide a holistic digital financial reporting package to investors. However, the ISSB Taxonomy can also be used with other digital taxonomies.

Access the press release on the IFRS Foundation website.

The podcast discusses the following:

• IFRS Advisory Council meeting
• International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters
• Commence research projects about risks and opportunities related to nature and human capital
• Launch of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy
• Forthcoming joint educational material with EFRAG on interoperability.

Access the press release on the IFRS Foundation website.

The research projects aim to determine the specific disclosures investors need to evaluate sustainability-related risks and opportunities in these sectors. As per the IFRS S1, entities are currently required to provide these disclosures with the help of sources of guidance (including the SASB standards).

As with the approach to the ISSB’s inaugural Standards, the ISSB will look at how it might build from relevant pre-existing initiatives. This includes those already under its purview—the SASB Standards and CDSB guidance—and, additionally, relevant aspects of the work of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).

With the research projects, the ISSB will now undertake its standard-setting to provide more specific disclosure requirements and expand the global baseline of sustainability-related financial disclosures.

The ISSB has also decided not to begin a project related to integration in reporting at this time. However, the ISSB has agreed to monitor developments in this area closely and may consider including such a project in future agenda consultations. In the January 2024 joint IASB-ISSB meeting, the boards noted that they still support the Integrated Reporting Framework regardless of decisions made about their respective work plans.

Access the press release on the IFRS’s website.

The vote follows a political agreement between the Council of the EU and the EU Parliament in February 2024.

EU companies will still have to report as planned in line with general sustainability reporting standards adopted by the European Commission in July 2023. Later adoption of sector-specific standards for EU companies affects the extent of reporting, as the sector-specific part about companies’ particular impact on people and the planet in their area of activity will not be required before 2026.

The Parliament vote does not affect the reporting timelines as agreed under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). As a next step, the legal text needs to be formally approved by the Council of the European Union before becoming effective.

Access the press release on the European Parliament’s website.

The first episode covers the March 2024 TIG meeting and is hosted by ISSB Vice-Chair Sue Lloyd, ISSB member Veronika Pountcheva and ISSB staff member Dianora Aria de Marco. They discuss the purpose and the objectives of the TIG, the submissions to the TIG, and insights from TIG members.

Access the press release on the IFRS’s website.

Adopted by a 3-2 vote on March 6, 2024, following two years of public debate, the Climate Rules have gained significant attention, with over 24,000 comments received by the SEC from various stakeholders.

 Initially, nine cases challenging the Climate Rules were filed across various circuit courts and on March 19, 2024, the SEC requested these cases to be consolidated into a single venue. This request was granted, and all cases were transferred to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on March 21, 2024.

Critics argue that the SEC exceeded its statutory authority by enforcing regulations that should primarily protect against financial fraud, not promote social views. However, the SEC maintains that the rules fall within its authority and are supported by academic literature linking climate risks and firm fundamentals.

 The final rule requires registrants to provide comprehensive climate-related disclosures in their annual reports and registration statements, including those for IPOs, beginning with annual reports for the year ending December 31, 2025, for calendar-year-end large, accelerated filers. Depending on when the legal challenges are resolved, the mandatory compliance dates may be retained or delayed.

Access the order issuing stay and the final rule on climate-related disclosure on the SEC’s website.

The report focuses on IFRS Accounting Standards and does not consider sustainability reporting standards such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs) or standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

According to the report, minor amendments in the following areas would have positive implications for financial stability:

• The application of the materiality principle in IAS 1 may need to be enhanced, as even if the transaction involved is immaterial in quantitative terms, user expectations or peer practice may justify information on it

• The addition of climate factors to the list of indicators of impairment of non-financial assets in IAS 36
• How provisions and contingent liabilities should be recognized according to IAS 37, given climate-related risks
• Additional disclosure requirements, examples and guidance on how climate-related risks should be incorporated into estimating expected credit losses and the fair value of financial instruments.

In addition, the ESRB recommends that the IASB prioritize the work on pollutant pricing mechanisms. This project is currently on the IASB's reserve list.

Access the report on the ESRB’s website.

The Independent Review Committee on Standard Setting in Canada recommended that an effectiveness review be conducted with the assistance of an independent third party to help streamline and harmonize oversight activities and processes. In response to the results, the Effectiveness Review Joint Taskforce and the current oversight councils approved that a single council be created to oversee standard setting for accounting, audit and assurance, and sustainability.  

This decision consolidates the activities of three oversight bodies – the Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Council (AASOC), Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC), and the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) Implementation Committee – streamlining the processes and activities for accounting, audit, assurance, and sustainability standard setting.

The Oversight Council is effective from April 1, 2024, and will focus its initial work on establishing its operations and governance processes. It will begin its formal oversight work on July 1, 2024. The current oversight bodies will conclude their operations on June 30, 2024.

Access the press release on the FRASCanada website.

Covering double materiality, due diligence, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), each publication emphasizes the pertinence of the topic and the significant role played by the globally adopted GRI Standards in helping address them: 

• Double materiality: The interconnectedness of a company's impacts on society and the environment with its financial performance. GRI reporting prepares companies for double materiality, given that impacts are the basis for determining associated financial risks and opportunities.  
• Due diligence: How a business prevents, mitigates and accounts for its impacts. Due diligence is integrated into the GRI Standards, with reporting requirements aligned with authoritative intergovernmental instruments. 
• CSRD: The benefits for policymakers in harmonizing their sustainability disclosure regulations with the EU. The GRI Standards are closely aligned with the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), with collaboration continuing to ensure they remain so in the future. 

Access the press release on the GRI’s website.

The guidance contains the following sections:

• Section 1 discusses the general reporting requirements in the ISSB standards and ESRS and explains the extent to which the standards are compatible with each other in terms of materiality, presentation and disclosures on non-climate-related sustainability topics
• Section 2 provides a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the climate-related disclosure requirements of the ISSB standards and the ESRS in a tabular format
• Section 3 lists reporting elements and areas for which ESRS preparers may need to provide additional disclosures in order to comply with the climate-related disclosure requirements in the ISSB standards
• Section 4 lists reporting elements and areas for which IFRS preparers may need to provide additional disclosures in order to comply with the climate-related disclosure requirements in ESRS

Access the press release on the IFRS’s website.