The following topics are on the agenda:

Supporting implementation of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2: The ISSB will discuss focus areas for educational material that the staff is currently developing to support the implementation of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. The focus areas for the discussion are: using ISSB standards to prepare sustainability-related financial disclosures; definition of material information; sustainability-related risks and opportunities; and information that is material might change over time.

ISSB consultation on agenda priorities: ISSB members will discuss the staff’s analysis and recommendations on the criteria for assessing the priority of new research and standard-setting projects that could be added to the ISSB’s work plan. The staff recommends proceeding with the list of criteria outlined in the request for information Consultation on Agenda Priorities without amendments or additions.

Our pre-meeting summaries is available on our February meeting notes page and will be supplemented with our popular meeting notes after the meeting.

At the heart of this committee's responsibilities are:

• the development of phase-wise timelines that are both ambitious and attainable;
• crafting recommendations for proforma financial statements and financial disclosures; and
• addressing concerns arising from transition activities.

For additional information, please see the announcement on the IRDAI website.

The full agenda for the meeting is summarised below:

Agenda papers for this meeting are available on the IFRS Foundation's website.

The following topics are on the agenda:

Equity method: The IASB will be asked to clarify several matters arising from its tentative decisions and decide whether to propose amendments to IFRS Accounting Standards; and consider which, if any, of the disclosure requirements to be proposed in the future exposure draft should also be proposed as amendments to the forthcoming IFRS Accounting Standard Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures.

Second comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs standard: The IASB will consider feedback on the proposals in the ED on Section 9 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements, Section 19 Business Combinations and Goodwill and Section 23 Revenue from Contracts with Customers.

Maintenance and consistent application: The IASB will discuss the staff’s analysis of feedback received in response to exposure draft Annual Improvements to IFRS Accounting Standards—Volume 11; and its project on use of a hyperinflationary presentation currency by a non-hyperinflationary entity (IAS 21), in particular the disclosure and transition requirements, as well as the due process requirements.

PIR of IFRS 9—impairment: In this meeting, the IASB will deliberate the feedback received in response to its request for information Post-implementation Review—IFRS 9 Financial Instruments—Impairment. The deliberation will be focused on the two overarching areas of the impairment requirements—the general approach to recognition of the expected credit loss (ECL) and determining significant increases in credit risk (SICR).

PIR of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers: The IASB will discuss feedback received in response to its request for information Post-implementation Review—IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, in particular with regard to identifying performance obligations in a contract, principal versus agent considerations and licensing.

Power purchase agreements: The staff will provide an update on the project and outline the next steps for the project.

IFRS 9 amendments to classification and measurement: The staff will present its analysis and recommendations relating to feedback on the disclosure requirements relating to contractual terms that could change the contractual cash flows of financial assets and financial liabilities not measured at fair value through profit or loss; and the effective date and transition requirements for the final amendments. The staff will also request permission to begin the balloting process for the final amendments and considers which of the new or amended disclosure requirements should apply to subsidiaries without public accountability.

Rate-regulated activities: The IASB will continue to redeliberate the proposals in the exposure draft Regulatory Assets and Regulatory Liabilities, in particular the boundary of a regulatory agreement, amendments to IAS 36 and disclosure.

In addition, the Board will receive a short oral update on changes to its work plan.

Our pre-meeting summaries is available on our February meeting notes page and will be supplemented with our popular meeting notes after the meeting.

In the episode, speakers from various organisations explore how companies can better adapt to regulatory changes, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities of sustainability data and links with the SDGs.

The podcast can be accessed via the podcast page on the GRI website. 

The consultation paper requests feedback on the most important questions, e.g. the potential scope and timeline of the adoption, potential transition reliefs, and questions around the assurance of sustainability information.

The ACSR proposes a staggered approach to adoption of, firstly, the ISSB standards with reliefs – staggered by groups of market participants and standard – from 2025-2028, and then full ISSB standards, staggered by groups of market participants from 2027-2029.

The ISSB standards would only be a part of the proposed so-called National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF), which has the following objectives:

• Improvement of the availability of reliable, comparable and decision-useful information on material sustainability risks and opportunities of companies by using the ISSB Standards as the baseline standard;
• Enabling the use of other complementary reporting frameworks, for example the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards or industry-based standards issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), to meet the information needs of different stakeholders; and
• Supporting the availability and the flow of sustainability information across the supply chain.

As a first step, the ACSR now consults on:

• a) the use and application of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, including the required transition reliefs;
• b) the approach in relation to a sustainability assurance framework; and
• c) enablers and/or support required for a) and b).

The comment period ends on 21 March 2024. To access the consultation paper on the SC Malaysia website, please click here.

The exposure drafts propose a globally applicable and comprehensive open-source methodology for valuing organisational social and environmental impact that is designed for incorporation into financial analysis and organisational planning and decision-making. The comment period ends on 8 April 2024.

The exposure drafts can be accessed on the VBA website:

• Environmental Methodology 1 — Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Social Methodology 1 — Adequate Wages

In January 2024, the Australian Government published an exposure draft legislation, in which all mentions of "sustainability" in the Australian equivalent of IFRS S1 are replaced with "climate". In addition, the scope of that equivalent standard would be reduced to climate-related financial disclosures. The draft legislation also contains a proposal to dilute IFRS S2 for financial institutions by only requiring them to consider the applicability of disclosures related to their financed emissions. 

The Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI) demands full alignment with the ISSB's standards as the baseline for Australia’s sustainability disclosure regime. In ASFI's view, this would help ensure "global interoperability" and streamlining of reporting requirements particularly for financial institutions that operate across multiple jurisdictions. They consider the AASB's decision to focus their standards on climate only to be an "unnecessary deviation" from the ISSB's standards. ASFI demands that IFRS S1 is adopted in its entirety "as soon as practicable" to ensure continued international alignment and to prepare the market for introduction of any future ISSB standards. The deviation from IFRS S2 is "a significant departure", according to ASFI, that could undermine "the value and efficacy" of the disclosures regime. 

According to Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) both IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 should be adopted as a baseline to ensure comparability and interoperability of data across regions. Modifications should only be made if they contribute to improved disclosures and do not detract from the global standard set by the ISSB's standards.

The Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) noted that modifications should be building on the baseline and cautioned against removing parts of the standards or restructuring them. In the IGCC's view, this creates an "unnecessary barrier" to producing quality and comparable disclosures. It also creates the risk of compromising the "integrity of the baseline" and adding complexity for both reporters and users operating across markets. 

Please see below for links to all three letters on the respective websites of the authors:

• ASFI
• PRI
• IGCC

Entities within the scope of the proposed guidelines would have to disclose information about environmental, social and governance topics. This includes information about climate change, biodiversity and ecosystems, circular economy, energy consumption, supply chain security, rural revitalisation, as well as prevention and detection of corruption and bribery. Entities would also have to disclose their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions for the value chain. The list of topics indicates that entities would be required to apply the 'double materiality' principle.

The draft guidelines are open for comment until 29 February 2024. They are currently only available in Chinese.

As an example, the following can be accessed on the website of the Shanghai SSE:

• Announcement
• Draft guidelines

Note: On 12 April 2024, the Shanghai SSE published the final guideline, which took effect on 1 May 2024. The final guideline can be accessed here on the Shanghai SSE website.

EFRAG is undertaking preparatory work in anticipation of the IASB's request for information related to the post-implementation review of IFRS 16 Leases that is expected to commence in Q4 2024. In order to develop a preliminary list of application issues arising from applying IFRS 16, EFRAG has launched the survey to collect input about the overall assessment of and experience with IFRS 16. EFRAG is also interested in understanding whether there is new evidence suggesting the need for a change in the standard.

Please click to access the survey on the EFRAG website. Comments are requested by 22 April 2024.

A separate user survey will be published in the near future.