The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has issued its proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. This proposed standard will now undergo a consultation period running until 1 December 2023 and stakeholders are encouraged to respond and share their feedback to the proposed standard.
ISSA 5000 is a principles-based, overarching standard suitable for both limited and reasonable assurance engagements on sustainability information reported across any sustainability topic. It is intended to work with various sustainability reporting frameworks (including the European Sustainability Reporting Standards and the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards). The standard is drafted as a profession agnostic standard and should be suitable for use by accountant and non-accountant assurance practitioners.
With the sustainability reporting requirements for certain entities set to increase over the coming years, a standalone sustainability standard is seen as a key piece of the framework to help ensure that users of sustainability information can place greater trust in the information they are consuming on an entities Environmental, Social and Governance impacts. In launching the consultation, IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein commented “Our proposed ISSA 5000 is a crucial step in enhancing confidence and trust in sustainability reporting. This proposal directly responds to the International Organization of Securities Commissions recommendations and complements the work of other standard setters, including the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants,”.
The comment period remains open until 1 December and the IAASB are seeking a broad range of views on the standard to gather the views and insights needed to finalise it.
LOADING...