The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the standard-setting body working to establish a globally recognised set of sustainability reporting standards, has published amendments to the US-based Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to further align the two sets of standards.

The COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai has set the world on a clear path towards decarbonisation, with a pledge to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce global emissions by 43% by 2030, and accelerate emission reductions towards net zero by 2050. Additionally, world leaders have committed to tripling renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the global body that sets the basis for banking prudential rules globally, has proposed a new set of metrics which could require banks and financial institutions globally to make more detailed climate-related financial risk exposures to market participants. The proposed changes could consider qualitative and quantitative disclosures as to how banks are managing these risks in various sectors and could be mandatory to facilitate comparability across banks.

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the body established under the auspices of the international body the Financial Stability Board to develop recommendations on the types of information that companies should disclose to support investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters, has disbanded and passed its monitoring of corporate climate- related disclosures and recommendation tasks to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

The International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) is consulting on a review of its advice and guidance to insurance supervisory bodies around the world as to how they respond to “greenwashing” or misleading information on the sustainability of an insurer’s operations as well as why and how supervisors and insurers can use climate-related scenario analysis.

Growing consensus on the need to create regulated standards on ESG data has been given a boost with the publication of a set of recommendations by the international securities standards setting body for global regulators.

The international accounting standards body has announced the creation of a new global standards board dedicated to developing sustainability-related disclosure standards to be used by investors and capital market participants.