IAASB’s proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000

Having announced they were approved a few weeks ago, the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) finally released its proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. ISSA 5000 is a principles-based, overarching standard covering:

• Information about all sustainability topics and aspects of topics;
• Information prepared in accordance with any sustainability reporting framework, standard or other suitable criteria, including the ESRS, IFRS, GRI, ISO, etc.;
• All sustainability information regardless of the mechanism for reporting the information;
• Limited and reasonable assurance engagements;
• Use by both professional accountant and non-accountant assurance practitioners.

In addition to an extensive outreach plan that includes videos, webinars, and roundtable discussions, the draft standards are open for comment until 1 December 2023. The IAASB had already indicated its intention to produce final standards in 2024. 

Of course, this is welcome confirmation that the reporting ecosystem is evolving to provide reliable sustainability-related information to decision-makers. 

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, the Financial Stability Board’s 2023 progress report makes for a very interesting read for anyone looking for a comprehensive overview of what’s happening in the global financial sector. In particular, the Block 1 Disclosures annex (p. 18-27) offers an insightful illustration of the interconnection between the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) – a.k.a. the regulators – and the IFRS’s International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and even the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), all of which are developing standards on sustainability-related disclosures or the assurance thereof.