IIGCC welcomes publication of ISSB’s climate reporting standards

Written by Michael Griffiths

26/06/2023

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has welcomed the publication of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards as an important step towards establishing a “global baseline” for climate-related disclosures.

New standard published by the ISSB aim to help to enhance the comparability and reliability of climate-related reporting.

These standards will aim to build on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, which is already used widely by investors and corporates to assess climate-related risks and opportunities.

The IIGCC said it welcomes the latest standards as part of a “building blocks” approach, where they can serve as a global baseline on which jurisdiction-specific reporting frameworks can build with additional disclosures.

With many investors setting ambitions to be Paris-aligned, the IIGCC has stated that a need to move beyond looking at individual company balance sheet impacts, by capturing the impact of investors’ holdings on the climate is critical. The group suggested this can help to ensure investors have access to all the information they need to inform investment decisions and reorient capital in line with net zero.

CEO of IIGCC, Stephanie Pfeifer, commented: “We welcome the publication of the ISSB standards as a basis for more consistent and comparable climate reporting globally.

“We need to build on the standards with jurisdictional reporting that captures the impact of companies’ activities and investments on the climate, and which capture the spectrum of physical and transition-related risks and opportunities presented by climate change in more granular detail.”

Furthermore, the IIGCC also believes the standards will reduce the “fragmentation” it sees across the international reporting landscape.

It suggested that interoperability of the standards with jurisdictional frameworks is vital to support cross-border comparability and consistency of climate disclosures is a significant step forward.

Chair of IIGCC and Chief Responsible Investment Office of Brunel Pension Partnership, Faith Ward, added: “The publication of international sustainability and climate reporting standards is a landmark moment for companies, investors and policymakers. It is, however, just the start.

“The standards create a globally consistent baseline that we must build upon both globally and locally to meet the evolving needs of business, investors and civil society – being Paris-aligned. I look forward to continuing to support the ISSB team in this vital piece of work.”

Related Articles