Issues Alert: IFRS Foundation Announces International Sustainability Standards Board

On November 3, the IFRS Foundation Trustees announced three significant developments that will provide the global financial markets with high-quality disclosures on climate and other sustainability issues, including:

• The formation of a new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to develop a comprehensive global baseline of high-quality sustainability disclosure standards to meet investors' information needs;
• A commitment by leading investor-focused sustainability disclosure organizations to consolidate into the new Board. The IFRS Foundation will complete  consolidation of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB — an initiative of CDP) and the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF — which houses the integrated Reporting Framework and the SASB Standards( by June 2022; and
• The publication of prototype climate and general disclosure requirements developed by the Technical Readiness Working Group (TRWG), formed by the IRFS Foundation Trustees. This group has consolidated key aspects of a number of organizaitons' content including CDSB, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the VRF and the World Economic Forum into an enhanced, unified set of recommendations for consideration by the ISSB.

CIRI will continue to monitor developments  in this area and provide updates when available.