• Detailed profiles of 17 jurisdictions were released, and snapshots were published for others.
• The move is aimed at giving investors more comparable sustainability information across markets and establishing a common ground for sustainability reporting.
• A complete profile is only published when countries' approaches towards disclosures are finalised.

The IFRS Foundation, an organisation that sets corporate reporting standards for the capital markets globally, has recently released jurisdictional profiles to show the progress made by different countries in line with the ISSB Standards.

The ISSB Standards are a set of international guidelines for sustainability-related financial disclosures. They help organisations report on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities.

The latest publication aims to increase transparency in the global capital markets and show how countries are performing pursuant to these international rules.

READ MORE: What is Sustainability Reporting? Meaning, Types, and Benefits

Emmanuel Faber, ISSB Chair, said: "The ISSB Standards are bringing clarity to investors on the risks and opportunities lying in value chains across time horizons in a rapidly changing world. A year ago, we committed to publishing detailed jurisdictional profiles describing adoption of our Standards to complement our Inaugural Jurisdictional Guide."

IFRS said that 36 jurisdictions have so far either used, adopted, or are about to use the ISSB Standards. The nonprofit organisation has published detailed profiles of 17 of the 36 jurisdictions, including Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Nigeria.

"The profiles provide a detailed current state-of-play to investors, banks and insurers who continue to struggle with the lack of appropriate, comparable and reliable information on these critical factors affecting business prospects. We have seen new jurisdictions joining the initial cohort of ISSB adopters every month, with a total of 36 today," Faber said.

The body proceeds with publishing profiles after a country's sustainability reporting approach is finalised. From the profiles, 14 countries plan to wholly adopt the standards, 2 are setting only the climate-related targets, and 1 is partially adopting them.

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In the meantime, 16 countries are still in the development stage for reporting requirements, and for them, the IFRS Foundation provides shorter "snapshots". For example, Canada and Japan are among those proposing standards that are mostly or fully aligned with the ISSB rules.

These snapshots are intended to give an idea of where these countries currently stand and what their next steps might be until a full profile is published once their decisions are final.

On the whole, this move will build trust and transparency, as well as bring consistency to sustainability information across countries and attract investor interest through informed decisions.

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Source: IFRS