37th intergovernmental working group of experts on international standards of accounting and reporting (ISAR)

I bid you welcome to the 37th Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting - popularly known as ISAR. We are conducting this session under the difficult constraints that COVID-19 has imposed on all of us but we are leveraging technology to continue the important work that ISAR does. 

The challenge of COVID-19 for private investment, enterprise and commerce globally is enormous. Our most recent global investment trends monitor shows that global FDI flows for 2020 will decline by more than expected – up to 49 per cent of the volume in 2019, which stood at 1.54 trillion US dollars. Our latest global trade update finds trade will be down 7-9 percent globally this year, buoyed only by some resilient trade flows in East Asia.  It us under this bleak cloud that we face the daunting task of achieving the SDGs in less than 10 years.

At this difficult time, the task of promoting high-quality reporting on the financial and non-financial performance of enterprises has become even more important than ever. The high-level panel that will commence in a few minutes will highlight the major implications of COVID-19 on accounting and reporting.

As most of you know, ISAR continues providing member States with practical solutions to such timely issues and challenges. One year ago ISAR published its guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on the contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, or the GCI. There are clear indications that this work has already influenced thinking on how private actors contribute to achievement of the SDGs.

This pioneer initiative launched at UNCTAD 14 in Nairobi in 2016 has accelerated the move towards harmonization and comparability of sustainability reporting and its alignment with the monitoring framework of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.  I am pleased that this meeting will be reviewing the findings of close to a dozen case studies on the practical implementation of the GCI. Indeed, such feedback from the ground is a very good way of informing your work and making refinements on the GCI where needed.

I am also pleased this meeting will take this work further, addressing climate-related financial disclosures. This is another timely and important topic, especially at a time when COVID-19 has highlighted the interdependence between our environment, our societies and our economies. Financial stability of the global economy can be improved by properly gauging the impact of climate change on the operations as well as financial performance and standing of enterprises. There is a need for concerted efforts to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, established by the Financial Stability Board. This work will reinforce what you have already articulated in the form of the GCI and will ultimately help further ringfence corporate sustainability efforts in favor of the SDGs.

Finally, I am pleased to note that the 2020 ISAR honours will be announced tomorrow. This will be the third time that ISAR will be honouring significant initiatives on achieving the SDGs from the perspective of transparent reporting. I wish you a successful session and look forward to the outcome of your deliberations.