Sustainability

The IESBA is committed to being part of the rapidly progressing developments regarding sustainability reporting and assurance and providing timely responses to ethics and independence-related concerns. As part of its Sustainability Project, the IESBA is developing:

• Sustainability-related revisions to the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (the Code) to address the ethics issues professional accountants might face while providing sustainability-related professional services (including sustainability reporting and assurance); and
• Ethics and independence standards for use and implementation by all sustainability assurance practitioners (i.e., professional accountants and other professionals performing sustainability assurance engagements).

 The Sustainability Task Force consists of two separate workstreams focusing on the ethics and the independence aspects of the Task Force’s work.

The Task Force coordinates closely with other global standard-setters in the field of sustainability reporting and assurance, including IAASB and International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), as well as the IESBA Task Force on the Use of Experts.

The IESBA's Sustainability Reference Group acts as a "sounding board" to the Sustainability Task Force, providing insights, expertise, or advice relating to the development of global ethics and independence standards for sustainability reporting and assurance. 

PROJECT FOCUS PAGE

• Website

IESBA June 2024 Meeting Highlights

Outreach Report-back

The IESBA considered a report-back on the Task Force’s and other IESBA representatives’ outreach activities in Q1 and Q2 of 2024 which included a series of in-person meetings and seminars in Toronto, Brussels, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne, as well as meetings with the Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) and IESBA-National Standard Setters (NSS) liaison group.

The IESBA also received an overview of the number and diversity of respondents to the Exposure Draft, Proposed International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA) and Other revisions to the Code Relating to Sustainability Assurance and Reporting (Sustainability ED) and a preliminary high-level summary of key matters raised by respondents to the ED.

IAASB-IESBA Coordination and ED Feedback Update

The IESBA considered a high-level overview of the comments raised by respondents to the Sustainability ED in relation to matters of coordination between the IESBA’s and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board’s (IAASB) respective Sustainability projects. The IESBA’s consideration was informed by the Task Force’s preliminary views on those matters as well as the IAASB’s related proposals as presented by Josephine Jackson, IAASB Vice-Chair and Chair of the IAASB’s Sustainability Task Force, Willie Botha, IAASB Program and Technical Director, and Dan Montgomery, IAASB Consultant.

Among other matters, the IAASB discussed the definition of sustainability information, group engagements, the determination of components, and the approach to the concept of “at least as demanding” as the IESBA Code in relation to relevant ethical requirements in the proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. The IESBA was also briefed on the IAASB Task Force’s most recent proposals relating to the definition of “another practitioner” and using the term “work” instead of “assurance work” in relation to using the work performed by another practitioner.  

Finally, the IESBA considered a high-level overview of the respondents’ comments on a number of other matters relating to the proposed IESSA, including the scope of the International Independence Standards, non-assurance services and responding to non-compliance with laws and regulations (NOCLAR).

The IESBA will receive a full analysis of the respondents’ comments on the ED and the Task Force’s proposed revisions to the ED at its September 2024 meeting.