Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has hosted the Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to discuss the ISSB's current consultation on proposed amendments to global climate-related disclosures standards.
CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen, CA ANZ Sustainability and Business Reform Leader Karen McWilliams FCA, CA ANZ members from business and public practice as well as representatives from Australian regulators and standard setters met with Sue Lloyd FCA at CA ANZ's Sydney office.
"Australia is one of the first countries to adopt mandatory climate-related disclosures requirements, which have been phased in from 1 January 2025. Reporting entities must follow the standard issued by the Australian Accounting Standards Board, which aligns with what's known internationally as IFRS S2," said Ainslie van Onselen.
"It means our largest entities here have already begun implementing the standard and so are well placed to provide feedback on the usefulness and real-world application of the amendments being put forward by the ISSB," said Ms van Onselen.
Sue Lloyd told the group that supporting the implementation of IFRS S1, General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and IFRS S2, Climate-related Disclosures, is the ISSB's highest priority.
"Our top priority is supporting the implementation of our Standards, and that's why we're proposing targeted amendments to address application challenges that have been identified in relation to climate-related disclosures," said Ms Lloyd.
"We put out an exposure draft on the proposed amendments in late April and the last day to submit any comments is 27 June 2025. We want this process to be timely to ease the implementation process for entities, so we are aiming to have the final amendments complete by Q4 2025," said Ms Lloyd.
CA ANZ notes the timing is particularly important for Australia as the reporting periods for the first group of reporting entities under this new regime, end on 31 December 2025.
"This face-to-face meeting with Sue Lloyd was a great opportunity to connect the ISSB with direct feedback from CA ANZ members and key industry stakeholders, as well as provide an Australian perspective on international developments," said Ms van Onselen.
She added that the peak accounting body has long advocated for consistent, comparable sustainability disclosures and welcomed IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 when they were published in 2023.
"As an IFRS Foundation capacity building partner, we are now accelerating our advocacy and education efforts to help CA ANZ members get ready for mandatory reporting. The accounting profession has an important role to play here.
"We're always looking for ways to refresh and expand our high-quality sustainability education – from our world-class CA Program, our continuous professional development (CPD) opportunities and our new climate-related financial disclosures micro credential, which include the latest developments of the ISSB.
"We are also constantly advocating to, or engaging with, regulators and standard setters, on our member's behalf," said Ms van Onselen.
CA ANZ is gathering member feedback to help inform its response to the ISSB consultation, as well as a parallel call by the Australian Accounting Standards Board for feedback.
