The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to explore inclusion of climate-related risks in companies' financial statements

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has added a project to its work plan to explore whether and how companies can provide better information about climate-related risks in their financial statements.The initiation of the project responds to feedback received from the IASB’s recent Agenda Consultation for the IASB to enhance the reporting of climate-related risks in the financial statements.In undertaking the project, the IASB will consider the work of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to ensure any proposals work well with IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and that any information required by the two boards would be complementary. The first two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards are due to be issued by the end of Q2 2023. Read our article for further information about how the IASB and ISSB’s work on climate-related disclosures is connected.The project was discussed at the IASB meeting this week for the first time. The project will research to what extent the educational material published in 2020 is helping companies reflect the effects of climate‑related risks in the financial statements, and what actions, if any, the IASB could take to further improve information about these matters.Commenting on the initiation of the project, IASB Chair Andreas Barckow said: ''The IASB introduced educational materials to help companies consider climate-related risks when preparing their financial statements. Feedback from our Agenda Consultation indicates a desire for us to go further. Therefore, we are initiating this project, informed by the ongoing work of our colleagues on the ISSB.'' All opinions expressed are those of the author and/or quoted sources. investESG.eu is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around ESG investing topics.