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News

IFRS Foundation Releases Guide for the Voluntary Application of ISSB Standards

By:
Karen Sibayan
Published Date:
Sep 25, 2024

iStock-826741128 Accounting Standards

On Sept. 25, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation published a manual titled Voluntarily applying ISSB Standards—A guide for preparers during New York Climate Week. 

An IFRS release stated that the guide's goal is to help firms as they begin to apply ISSB Standards voluntarily. It also attempts to support them in communicating their progress to investors, who are demanding information despite the need for regulatory requirements to apply the standards. 

Speaking at New York Climate Week, ISSB Investor Advisory Group Chair and Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), Carine Smith Ihenacho, said, "For sustainability information to support investment decisions, risk management processes and ownership activities across a diversified portfolio, it must be consistent and comparable across companies and over time." 

She added, “NBIM asks companies to use, and jurisdictions to adopt, the ISSB Standards as a global baseline. This baseline is critical for cost-effective, decision-useful reporting to investors, including in markets where disclosure requirements go further to meet the needs of other stakeholders, such as Europe.” 

Like NBIM, investors worldwide have asked firms to voluntarily apply ISSB Standards, which offer them a global baseline of disclosures for decision-making and comparable information even without the regulatory requirements to implement ISSB Standards, the release said.

Concurrently, a rising number of jurisdictions are taking steps to introduce sustainability disclosure requirements, including the standard’s widespread use.  

The guide is the latest in a series of publications designed to support the implementation of IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.  

The release said that when utilized with tools such as the ESRS—ISSB Standards Interoperability Guidance, firms can apply ISSB Standards to meet investor demand and regulatory requirements worldwide.