The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) publishes global sustainability reporting standards for companies.

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has issued its inaugural globally applicable sustainability reporting standards — IFRS-S1 and IFRS-S2. A sign that sustainability and climate topics might indeed unify the globe as far as potential impacts are concerned.

With the ultimate objective of enabling investors make informed decisions, the ISSB standards create a global common language for disclosing the effect of sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities on a company’s prospects that can be understood, and compared globally and improve trust and confidence in company disclosures. The ISSB developed the standards in response to a growing demand for consistent and comparable sustainability-related disclosures from investors.

IFRS-S1 establishes a set of disclosure requirements that enable companies to communicate sustainability-related risks and opportunities over the short, medium, and long term. While IFRS-S2 focuses specifically on climate-related disclosures and is designed to complement IFRS-S1, ensuring a comprehensive approach to sustainability reporting. Both fully incorporate the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Both standards will become effective in Jan 2024. However, ISSB has given one-year transitional relief for entities IFRS-S1. The relief will allow companies to report solely on climate-related risks and opportunities in accordance with IFRS-S2 in their first year of applying the standards.

Although the standards are Intended to apply globally, they need to be adopted by jurisdictions individually. The EU disclosure standards may also be aligned to the ISSB standards but are not equal and have their additional nuances and requirements. This together with The application of IFRS-S1 relief may mean global patchwork when it comes to sustainability disclosure.