An influential group of capital markets regulators on Tuesday endorsed new ISSB sustainability disclosure standards and urged regulators around the world to incorporate them.
On June 26, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation's International Sustainability Standards Board unveiled two global sustainability disclosure standards, including one specific to climate that let investors see how companies manage risks and opportunities, with information tied to corporate financial statements.
With its endorsement, the International Organization of Securities Commissions — whose members regulate more than 95% of world securities markets — called on its 130 member jurisdictions to consider incorporating the ISSB standards into their respective regulatory frameworks.
In the announcement, Rodrigo Buenaventura, who chairs IOSCO's Sustainable Finance Task Force, said that the regulators' endorsement should "result in global capital markets being able to access reliable, consistent and comparable sustainability related information which will allow investors to price sustainability risks and opportunities and help them make investment decisions."
Jean-Paul Servais, chairman of the IOSCO board, called it "a critical moment in advancing IOSCO's goal of improving climate-risk disclosure for investors."
IFRS Foundation officials welcomed the IOSCO endorsement and said in a separate statement that they are working on a roadmap to help regulators around the world adopt the ISSB standards.
