Overview

On June 26, 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released its first two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information lays out the general requirements for disclosing sustainability-related financial information. IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures focuses on climate-related disclosures.

The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) used IFRS S2 as a baseline to develop the Exposure Draft, “Proposed Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standard (CSDS) 2, Climate-related Disclosures.”

The Board proposes two modifications in accordance with its proposed “Criteria for Modification Framework” which takes into account the Canadian public interest. These modifications relate to effective date and transition relief:

1. The effective date has been extended by one year due to the expected timing of CSDS 1’s issuance. However, Canada’s regulators and legislators will determine whether CSDSs should be mandated, and if so, who will need to apply the standards and over what time frame.
2. The transition relief for disclosures beyond climaterelated risks and opportunities has been extended by one year to allow entities in Canada more time to prepare for adoption.

For fur­ther de­tails re­fer to support materials available on the CSSB’s web­site:

• Adoption of CSDS 1 and CSDS 2 based on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2
• In Brief – A plain and simple overview of the recently issued Exposure Drafts, “Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standard (CSDS) 1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information” and “CSDS 2, Climate-related Disclosures”
• Webinar – Proposed Canadian Sustainability Disclosure Standards and Criteria for Modification Framework