The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has released the 2021 edition of Reporting matters. The press release on the WBCSD website offers a summary of the key findings and access to the full report.
The Carbon Tracker initiative has released Flying blind: The glaring absence of climate risks in financial reporting showing that over 70% of reviewed companies fail to disclose climate risk in their financials reporting. Key findings and access to the full report are available on the Carbon Tracker website.
The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has published a global investor statement urging governments to undertake five priority actions before COP26, including committing to implementing mandatory climate risk disclosure requirements aligned with the TCFD recommendations. The statement can be accessed here.
The G20 Presidency has published the G20 Sustainable Finance Roadmap that contains as Action 6 "G20 to welcome the work program of the IFRS Foundation to develop a set of internationally consistent, comparable, and reliable baseline standards for disclosure of sustainability-related information on enterprise value creation." The roadmap can be accessed on the G20 website, the full Action 6 is on page 9.
The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has published Audited Financial Statements and Climate-Related Risk Considerations discussing items that public companies a re currently reporting and how that information is material to their financial statements. The report can be downloaded from the CAQ website.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has announced that they have revised and strengthened their Universal Standards and have published their first sector-specific standard (for oil and gas). More information is available on the GRI website.
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has published Transition to integrated reporting: A Guide to getting started as companion publication to the <IR> Framework. In addition, the <IR> Framework is now available in an Italian and a Turkish translation.
The UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published FAQs on International Sustainability Standards Setting. The purpose of the FAQs is to inform stakeholders of developments in sustainability standard setting by the IFRS Foundation. Please click to access the FAQs on the FRC website.
The FRC has also released Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): ahead of mandatory reporting to help companies prepare for mandatory TCFD reporting in the UK. The report and a snapshot of the status of current reporting against the TCFD framework can be accessed through the press release on the FRC website.
The Prince of Wales' Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) has published a guide to TCFD Climate Scenario Analysis. Scenario analysis is a key recommendation of the TCFD and allows a company to understand and quantify the risks and uncertainties it may face under different hypothetical futures. The guide can be downloaded from the A4S website.
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has formally released the SASB Standards XBRL Taxonomy to facilitate reporting in accordance with its 77 Industry Standards using structured data. More information is available here.
The New Zealand External Reporting Board (XRB) began consultation with business on the first part of the Government’s proposed climate-related disclosure standards by releasing its first climate-related disclosure consultation document. More information is available here.
Japan's Financial Accounting Standards Foundation (FASF) has announced that it has revised its organisation charter to include sustainability reporting standards in its purpose and business, in addition to its existing purpose/business on accounting standards. This move is for the organisation to become the counterparty of the IFRS Foundation's ISSB in Japan. The press release is only available in Japanese.
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) have also published for comment proposed climate-related disclosure requirements. The requirements contemplate disclosure largely consistent with the TCFD recommendations. The proposed requirements can be accessed through the press release on the CSA website.
The European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for SMEs (EFAA) has released a podcast The Future of Corporate Reporting in Europe: What are the Implications and Next Steps for Europe’s Small- and Medium-Sized Practices? The podcast is available on YouTube.
The task force on sustainability reporting of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has released a working paper on the basis for conclusions for the prototype for the climate standard they are working on. The paper is for information only and not open for public comments. Please click to access the paper here.
The Deloitte firms in the European Union have responded to the EFRAG consultation paper EFRAG Due Process Procedures on EU Sustainability Reporting Standard-Setting. Please click to access our comment letter.