The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) issued its proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements, a news release said.
According to the release, once the standard is approved, it will be the most comprehensive sustainability assurance standard globally for assurance practitioners.
“Our proposed ISSA 5000 is a crucial step in enhancing confidence and trust in sustainability reporting,” IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein said in the release. “This proposal directly responds to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) recommendations and complements the work of other standard setters, including the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA)”.
The standard is profession-agnostic, supporting both professional accountant and non-accountant assurance practitioners in performing high quality sustainability assurance engagements, the release said.
“Corporate reporting, whether financial or sustainability focused, is more trusted when it receives external and independent assurance based upon globally accepted standards independently developed in the public interest,” Seidenstein said.
The board invites stakeholder comment by 1 December on the proposed revisions through the IAASB website.
UKEB seeks comment on IFRS 15 review
The UK Endorsement Board (UKEB) has issued a draft comment letter in response to the IASB’s request for information on its post-implementation review of IFRS 15, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, a UKEB publication said.
The letter considers that the standard has achieved its objective and is working well, the publication said, while highlighting “some areas where improvement, including potential standard-setting activity, is required, without causing significant cost and disruption to entities already applying the standard”.
Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback through the Invitation to Comment form or by email to UKEndorsementBoard@endorsement-board.uk. Comments are welcome through 5 October.
EFRAG welcomes first set of sustainability standards
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the welcoming of the adoption of the Delegated Act on the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) by the European Commission.
Patrick de Cambourg, chair of the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board, said in a news release that the group will make every effort to facilitate implementation and make ESRS a success. “With the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and now the Delegated Act on sector-agnostic ESRS, we are delighted to acknowledge such a critical step towards the objective of placing sustainability reporting on an equal footing with financial reporting.”
The ESRS will come into effect in 2024, according to an IFRS news release. To assist entities who will apply both ESRS and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, the European Commission, together with EFRAG and the ISSB, will work on interoperability guidance material that could assist entities in navigating between the standards, and to understand where there are incremental disclosures required by only one set of standards, the IFRS release said.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.
