The first two standards of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) disclosures were published yesterday. It was only 2 years ago, in 2021, that the IFRS Foundation first launched the ISSB. It appears that little time has been wasted and, following a launch event, asset owners around the world are now welcoming the formalisation of IFRS S1, the general reporting standards, and IFRS S2, the reporting standards which are focused on climate. 

Approval from the FCA, the UK’s financial regulator, was particularly enthusiastic, with Sacha Sadan, their director of ESG, declaring that the FCA is hugely supportive of the ISSB’s mission to create a common, global language for companies around the world to communicate their stories on sustainability in a consistent and comparable way.   

The UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Regulations (SDR) is planned to come into force later this year, following the closure of its consultation period in Q1. It is expected that the ISSB standards will become an integral component of the SDR.

Looking ahead, the CEO of PRI, David Atkin, has been reported to have declared support for the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to call for ‘all policymakers around the world’ to bring in mandatory ISSB disclosures ‘by 2025 at the latest’. Asset managers and the financial markets will be following developments in earnest.