Coming global accounting rules must heed practical realities

ONE of the most important developments in sustainability could arrive by year’s end with the first set of sustainability- and climate-related standards under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The standards, which are currently being written by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), are expected to set a global baseline that will hopefully bring about much-needed convergence in the way that sustainability-related factors are reported.

But feedback by leading Singapore entities to drafts of the coming standards show that ISSB must pay better heed to practical realities if it is to meet those lofty expectations.