The Association also believes this move will enable a necessary evolution for corporate reporting standards and ensure that corporate reporting remains fit for purpose in the post-pandemic world.
Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, CEO at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, said:
“Today’s announcement marks a new, historical milestone in our journey to establish globally consistent sustainability reporting standards, signalling a new era in corporate reporting where the same level of rigour will be demanded sustainability reporting as for financial information. Organisations do not operate in a vacuum; they must take a holistic approach to understand how they create and deliver value to achieve sustainable success.
“Customers, employees, society, governments, and investors are all demanding greater organisational transparency beyond the traditional financial metrics. But organisations can’t manage what they don’t measure and can’t build trust with their stakeholders unless they provide consistent, comparable information on a variety of metrics, including sustainability metrics. Therefore, the need for a universally accepted set of reliable, comprehensive and robust sustainability standards, which can accommodate interoperability, has never been greater. As the Chair of the Value Reporting Foundation Board Strategy Committee, I’m very pleased to see our hard work come to fruition.
“Similarly, it is critical to enhancing the reliability and transparency of that information with meaningful reporting and ultimately related assurance by professional accountants. They have an important role to play in improving their organisation’s integrated thinking and decision-making capabilities. Professional accountants have the necessary skills and expertise to help effect meaningful change in this area and can work with stakeholders to integrate responsible and sustainable practices into their business and operating models.”
Read the full announcement here.
