Aletta Boshoff
National Leader, IFRS & Corporate Reporting
National Leader, Sustainability
Demands for transparency on sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities have been increasing for businesses worldwide. Stakeholders are calling out for information that is accessible, informative, comparable, and – of course – not misleading.
Essential decisions – like your choice of reporting standards or framework - are often driven by the ultimate purpose of the report. Your jurisdiction's regulator(s) will likely guide your reporting structure and location if the report's purpose is compliance. For some organisations, this requires consideration of multiple regulations when operations or sales are also in other jurisdictions.
Whether you're embarking on reporting voluntarily or to meet compliance requirements, our team of experts can support you by establishing and preparing sustainability reporting-related activities to an assurance-ready standard, maximising stakeholder value while minimising business risk, including:
In the fast-evolving world of sustainability reporting and disclosures, keeping up with what's required can be difficult. In June 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued its first sustainability standards:
• IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, and
• IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
These standards were made effective on 1 January 2024 but are subject to endorsement in each jurisdiction.
While the Australian Government is yet to finalise the timing and approach to mandatory adoption for organisations in Australia, entities of all sizes across the supply chain could be impacted. In October 2023 the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) issued Exposure Draft ED SR1 Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards – Disclosure of Climate-related Financial Information, exploring how to implement IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 in Australia.
If your organisation is embarking on a voluntary sustainability reporting journey, you will likely have more options to consider. Activating sustainability and developing a sustainability report might seem like a daunting task. Like any project, breaking the process down into steps and milestones helps to make it achievable, for example:
A journey of continuous improvement should follow the initial sustainability report, with a plan to monitor and develop performance improvements over time.
Our team of sustainability experts can help you move through the sustainability reporting process, from delivering your materiality assessment to determining the suitable reporting frameworks or developing your strategy for continuous improvement.
Our TCFD checklist consolidates the 11 recommended TCFD disclosures and 'guidance for all sectors' to help organisations perform a gap analysis as they embark on TCFD reporting. This provides a great stepping stone to implementing IFRS S2.
This six-step sustainability roadmap will help you establish which sustainability activities are a priority to your organisation based on their importance and value to your stakeholders.
Contact our team to discuss your needs using the request for service form. Alternatively, call us on 1300 138 991 to speak with an adviser in your nearest BDO office.
Aletta Boshoff
Brett Spicer
Kevin Frohbus