Topics discussed during the meeting included:

• Updates from MASB
• Second comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs Accounting Standard
• Post-implementation review of IFRS 9
• Post-implementation review of IFRS 15
• Update on ISSB developments
• Third Agenda consultation
• IFRS Interpretations Committee update

A recording of the meeting is available on the IFRS Foundation’s website.

This issue features:

• In profile — Enitan Adebonojo, Senior Forensic Equity Analyst and Executive Director at CFRA
• Spotlight — Key conclusions from the Third Agenda Consultation
• We need your views — Open consultations
• Stay up to date
• Resources for investors — Recent webcasts and webinars
• IASB Updates and podcasts

The Investor Update newslet­ter is available on the IFRS Foun­da­tion’s website.

The Committee will discuss the following:

• Administrative matters
• Definition of a lease: Substitution rights (IFRS 16)
• Potential annual improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards
• Post-implementation review of IFRS 15

The full agenda for the meeting can be found here. We will post any updates to the agenda, our com­pre­hen­sive pre-meet­ing summaries as well as observer notes from the meeting on this page as they become available.

In particular, the G20 discussed that “globally consistent data are needed in order to effectively address climate-related financial risks” and are looking “forward to the finalization of standards by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in support of globally consistent, comparable and reliable climate-related financial disclosures, and its work beyond climate.” In addition, the G20 welcomes “the efforts to achieve interoperability across disclosure frameworks.”

For more information, see the full final declaration.

During the meeting, par­tic­i­pants provided an update on the progress of sustainability-related reporting in their jurisdictions and gave observations to the agenda papers for the October 2022 ISSB meeting. The ISSB and IFRS Foundation Trustees will be evaluating the future role of the JWG considering the establishment of the Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum.

See the full summary on the IFRS Foundation website.

The proposed changes aim to improve the quality of tagged data and to make the IFRS Accounting Taxonomy easier to use.

Details on the proposed changes are available in the press release on the IFRS Foundation website and in proposed update itself. Comments are requested by 16 December 2022.

The Financial Reporting Board (FRB) will be chaired by Wolf Klinz, former Member of the European Parliament; the Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB) will be chaired by Patrick de Cambourg, former President of the French accounting standard setter Autorité des normes comptables (ANC). The Chair and Vice Chair of the Administrative Board were already announced in February 2022.

Please click to access the press release on the EFRAG website.

The statement lists the following factors affecting current economic conditions that should be considered:

• supply chain challenges;
• on-going impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• evolving impacts of the conflict in Ukraine;
• escalating energy supply shortages and costs;
• labor shortages;
• inflationary pressures;
• volatility in currency exchange rates;
• rising interest rates;
• changes in monetary and fiscal policies; and
• other responses from central banks and other government authorities.

Considering these factors might lead to financial statement considerations, going concern considerations, considerations around events after the reporting period, updating and assessing significant judgments, estimates and estimation uncertainty, cybersecurity risk consideration, and considerations around non-GAAP financial measures.

The IOSCO concludes:

We encourage issuers, external auditors, as well as audit committees [...] to be particularly vigilant in times of economic uncertainty in their consideration of how risks and uncertainties that could affect or have affected an issuer’s operations, financial condition, cash flows and prospects can be transparently communicated to investors.

Please click to access the full statement on the IOSCO website.

The TPT was launched by HM Treasury in April 2022 to develop a ‘gold standard’ for private sector climate transition plans applicable to the UK and includes representatives from the Government, regulators, industry, civil society, and academics.

The consultation consists of two documents:

• The TPT Disclosure Framework - recommendations for companies and financial institutions to develop gold-standard transition plans.
• The TPT Implementation Guidance – steps for companies to follow when developing their transition plan, as well as when, where and how to disclose their plan.

The TPT recommends that firms provide a standalone transition plan at least every three years and when material changes to any plan are made, if sooner. It also recommends that reporting progress and material updates against a firm’s transition plan should be provided within a firm’s annual reporting cycle, either as part of Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) or International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) disclosures. Additionally it says that if an entity produces a long-form TCFD or sustainability report, the transition plan must be clearly separable (e.g. as an appendix or separate document).

The TPT’s recommendations are intended to build on what was set out in TCFD guidance and ISSB exposure draft standards. The TPT’s recommendations are also structured around five elements which mirror the key components of a transition plan, as recommended by Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ).

To accompany the consultation documents, the TPT has published Technical Annex to the Guidance to map the TPT recommendations to other wider sustainability reporting frameworks, such as the recommendations from TCFD and the ISSB proposed standards.

The TPT has also set up a Sandbox to give firms space to test how they integrate the TPT’s framework and guidance within their systems and reporting cycle.

Once TPT has finalised its work, it expects the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to use the Disclosure Framework to strengthen the disclosure requirements that it has already set out for listed companies, asset managers and owners, life insurers and pension providers that are regulated by the FCA.

The consultation survey closes on 28 February 2023 and the TPT is expected to finalise the Disclosure Framework and Guidance shortly after.

A press release, further information including a summary of the proposed recommendations and a link to the full consultation are available on the TPT website.

The report analyses disclosure trends in emissions reduction targets and transition plans of the 40 largest exchange-listed companies in 15 jurisdictions, for a total of 600 companies.  The jurisdictions include G7 countries and 8 non-G7 countries for the 2020 reporting year.

Key findings include:

• 66% of the large, exchange-traded companies reviewed included some type of emissions reduction target in their corporate disclosures. These emissions targets used a variety of terminology (such as 'carbon neutral' and 'net zero') and only 39% incorporated Scope 3 emissions.
• Of the 397 companies with an emissions reduction target 5% had clearly provided both “absolute” and “intensity” targets.  The International Sustainability Standard Board’s (ISSB's) draft standard includes the disclosure of historic emissions on an absolute and intensity basis.
• Whilst other dates are being used, 129 of the companies set 2050 as the date for achieving their stated value chain or operationally neutral reduction target, consistent with the Paris Agreement.  Targets earlier than 2050 were common in finance or industries such as technology, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, or beverages.
• Most companies set their targets in alignment with the Paris Agreement (28%) or Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi) (43%) protocols.
• 322 companies reported on climate with reference to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. 86% of those disclosed a target while only 44% of companies that did not use the TCFD framework provided a target. 
• Most companies (90%) who disclosed emissions targets also provided a disclosure about how they plan to reach their target.
• In transition plans, reduction strategies were significantly more prevalent than disclosures of offset strategies
• Only 24% of companies with a plan included some past expenditure or future estimate of expenditures to implement plan actions.

Further information and the full report is available on the IFAC Website.