This vision addresses the importance of global standards, regulation that supports decision-useful disclosure, and the value of an interconnected approach to sustainability and financial information reporting and assurance.
Today, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) published its vision for high-quality assurance of sustainability information—calling out best practices identified during its year-long, global engagement campaign related to the State of Play in Sustainability Assurance.
“In order to be trusted,
sustainability disclosure must be subject to high-quality, independent,
external assurance,” said IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey. “Sustainability
information must take its rightful place in the corporate reporting
ecosystem and stakeholder confidence must be on par with financial
reporting. Given the announcement of the International Sustainability
Standards Board, the publication of a Climate Prototype, and IOSCO’s
continued support for the initiative, it’s an appropriate time for
regulators and authorities to put sustainability assurance on the
agenda, as already proposed in the EU’s Corporate Sustainability
Reporting Directive. We urge IFAC member organizations to promote
high-quality reporting and assurance through discussions with
policymakers, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders.”
As a harmonized, global reporting system for reporting sustainability information takes shape, based on the Building Blocks Approach,
emerging regulatory frameworks should be designed to promote robust,
decision-useful disclosure and disincentivize a compliance-based
approach to both reporting and assurance. Aligning sustainability
disclosure with financial reporting and connecting sustainability
assurance engagements with financial statement audits will maximize
value to reporting entities and their stakeholders. High-quality, global
standards—for reporting, assurance, and ethical professional
conduct—play a key role in meeting this objective and in avoiding
unnecessary costs and reduced comparability and consistency that result
from regulatory fragmentation.
Read more about IFAC’s support for global sustainability-related standard on the IFAC website.
About IFAC
IFAC
is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to
serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and
contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC
is comprised of 180 members and associates in 135 countries and
jurisdictions, representing more than 3 million accountants in public
practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.
IFAC
© IFAC - International Federation of Accountants
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article