Don’t aim for perfection in sustainability disclosures before getting started, says global standards body vice-chair

THE long-awaited disclosure standards for sustainabilty and climate were finally published on Monday (Jun 26) – after more than a year of meetings and discussions.

But it is only the beginning. Hua Jingdong, vice-chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) – the global accounting standards body behind the guidance – said that sustainability reporting is a journey on which capital market participants are just embarking, and that it is still a new language everyone is learning to speak.

This means that companies which are new to sustainability reporting and do not have resources or capacity to invest in this can start by disclosing sustainability or climate-related information in a simple and qualitative manner. They can then progress to more sophisticated quantitative reporting at a later stage. “We are not anticipating perfection on Day One. It is to encourage you to start that journey,” Hua said.