The International Sustainability Standards Board will improve the sustainability disclosure landscape as it begins its new two-year work plan.
The ISSB announced Monday it will streamline and consolidate frameworks and standards for disclosures about transition plans — those regarding a company's plans to lower its carbon emissions — in order to reduce fragmentation of market data. The ISSB will also look to build relevant initiatives to better meet investors needs as it begins its research project on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services.
"As we embark on our new two-year work plan that will see us strengthen and build out the global baseline of sustainability-related financial disclosures, I am grateful to our partners in the sustainability reporting landscape for their commitment to delivering an efficient, effective sustainability disclosure system for capital markets," ISSB chair Emmanuel Faber said in a statement.
The IFRS Foundation will establish governance to ensure the work between the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and the ISSB remains compatible. This includes the appointment of an ISSB representative as an observer on the GHG Protocol Independent Standards Board.
And earlier this month, the CDP, the ISSB's global climate closure partner, opened its platform for 75,000 organizations and released a questionnaire with IFRS S2 as its baseline for climate disclosure.
"The ISSB's climate standard is the foundational baseline for CDP's climate disclosure," CDP CEO Sherry Madera said in a statement. "Our new questionnaire, open now for 2024 disclosure, is aligned with IFRS S2. This means that companies can disclose IFRS S2-aligned climate data directly to their stakeholders through CDP, enhancing data availability and accessibility for investors, lenders, and buyers across the globe."
In addition, the ISSB and GRI's Global Sustainability Standards Board agreed to jointly identify and align common disclosures that address information needs under both respective standards.
