The last Forum of Firm (FoF) meeting held in London on 31 October 2023 focused on sustainability related financial information disclosure and on sustainability assurance.
IFRS for sustainability
On June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) of IFRS Foundation issued the IFRS 1 and IFRS2:
- IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information
- IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures
For more information please check https://www.ifrs.org/
Exposure Draft 5000 “International Standard on Sustainability Assurance”
International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of IFAC disclosed on August 2023 the Exposure Drafts and Consultation Papers related to “Proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000”. Comments collect is still open till 1 December 2023.
The IAASB’s aim was to develop an overarching standard to provide an appropriate global baseline for high-quality sustainability assurance engagements that can be applied for:
- sustainability topics and reporting mechanisms
- suitable criteria (framework neutral)
- intended users
- Limited and reasonable assurance engagements; and
- assurance practitioners (profession agnostic).
In Europe, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has been adopted and is already transposed in 5 countries and isunder transposition process in 10 other countries. According to European Accounting Association (EAA), European Commission decided to adopt a limited assurance standard on CSRD by year 2026 and reasonable assurance standard by year 2028.
This is being a major change in the audit profession for the next years, IECnet members are warmly invited to check the standard project and provide their comments on the following link:
Proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements webpage (ISSA 5000)
For more information please check:
Wassim Turki, IECnet Chairman of the Committee on Auditing
