The UNCTAD secretariat communicated to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) the views of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) on the two Exposure Drafts— S1 and S2— the ISSB published in March 2022.
The UNCTAD secretariat organized consultations among ISAR members to gather views on the Exposure Drafts. The consultations were held from 1 to 2 June 2022. There was broad representation at the meeting from jurisdictions at different levels of maturity in sustainability reporting – including a total of 40 experts from 25 countries. The discussions at the meeting were based on broader consultations at national and regional levels.
The submission to the ISSB was in line with the request by the thirty-eighth annual session of ISAR, which was held in November 2021, for the UNCTAD secretariat to synthesize the views of ISAR on the development of sustainability reporting standards and to act as a channel to communicate those views to the ISSB. This decision was grounded in ISAR’s long-standing collaborative relationship with the IFRS Foundation and the IASB, and its efforts to support the implementation of IFRS in developing countries.
ISAR’s input to the ISSB on the proposed standards focused on practical implementation considerations, particularly from the perspective of developing countries and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
