The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has welcomed the International Sustainability Standards Board's (ISSB) two draft standards for consultation on establishing global sustainability reporting standards.
Publishing the ISSB Exposure Drafts – S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and S2 Climate-related Disclosures – is a major step towards setting global sustainability and climate-related disclosure standards. If adopted internationally, the drafts will impact Australia's capital markets and participants as investors continue to demand comparable sustainability and climate-related corporate disclosures.
“The ISSB has worked at pace to meet the urgent demand for transparent and comparable reporting on sustainability and climate-related matters. Consistent, comparable, and relevant information is critical for investors to make fully informed decisions here,” said ASIC Deputy Chair Karen Chester.
ASIC encourages Australian stakeholders to provide feedback on the two exposure drafts by participating in a survey or submitting a comment letter by July 29, 2022.
“It's important that Australian companies and stakeholders – more broadly investors, other reporters, advisors, and assurers – participate in the ISSB consultation to establish these standards as ‘a global baseline’. The ISSB offers alternative consultation options; you can complete a survey or submit a comment letter. Australian stakeholder feedback is essential to ensuring the ISSB's final standards are appropriate and workable for our market and economy.”
The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) also seeks stakeholder feedback on the exposure drafts to gather information on how the proposals might operate in Australia. It is open to submissions until July 15, 2022.
