The Board of IOSCO congratulates the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) on achieving an important milestone of finalizing their International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements and Proposed Conforming and Consequential Amendments to Other IAASB Standards.
IOSCO notes the extensive and thorough outreach program conducted by the IAASB throughout the lifecycle of the development of ISSA 5000 and were pleased to have actively participated in many of their activities over this period.
IOSCO reiterates its support for this work and commends the IAASB for its timely development of the Standard in response to the public need for assurance standards to cover all sustainability assurance providers.
The final Standard is responsive to the key considerations and observations set out by IOSCO in its 2023 report and public statement. IOSCO believes the Standard can support high-quality assurance over sustainability-related information and may enhance consistency, comparability and reliability of sustainability-related information provided to the market. The final Standard, together with the IAASB’s plan to develop implementation support materials and other capacity-building efforts, can contribute to enhancing trust in the sustainability-related information provided to investors.
Jean-Paul Servais, Chair of IOSCO, said: “When I began my mandate as IOSCO Board Chair, I emphasized the need for speed in developing a comprehensive international regulatory toolkit for sustainability-related disclosures and the assurance thereof. A strong assurance framework for sustainability-related reporting needs to be focused on the public interest and should be profession – and framework – agnostic. I commend the IAASB for delivering sustainability assurance standards well on time with a view to enable the assurance of 2024 corporate disclosure.”
“IOSCO will continue to play a key role in promoting global consistency in the assurance of sustainability-related information”, he added.
