The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has launched a public consultation on new ethical standards for sustainability reporting.
The aim is to address the growing concern of greenwashing and enhance the quality of reported sustainability information.
The trade group has invited comments from accountants, sustainability practitioners, regulators, and investors on its two proposed frameworks: International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (IESSA) and Using the Work of an External Expert.
The IESSA draft outlines a framework of expected behaviours and ethics provisions for sustainability assurance practitioners and professional accountants involved in sustainability reporting.
This framework sets the stage for practitioners to uphold high ethical standards while conducting sustainability assurance engagements.
The second exposure draft focuses on the framework to be applied by professional accountants or sustainability assurance practitioners when evaluating the competence, capabilities, and objectivity of external experts.
This evaluation is crucial when utilizing the work of external experts in sustainability reporting processes.
Both drafts were coordinated alongside the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB).
The proposed ethics standards are especially relevant where sustainability information is increasingly important for capital markets, consumers, corporations and their employees, as well as for governments and society at large.
The launch of the consultations comes after European lawmakers approved rules designed to drive major crackdowns on misleading or unsubstantiated environmental claims.
“Ethics is about acceptable behaviours and right decisions to avoid bias in sustainability information and foster trust,” says Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, chair of the IESBA.
She added, “From investors looking for transparent and credible information, to consumers wanting to ensure the reliability of companies’ narratives about the sustainable credentials of their products and practices, and companies wanting to be trusted, all users of sustainability disclosures have a vested interest in ensuring ethical choices by the preparers and assurers of such information.
These proposed standards will serve as a cornerstone of ethical behaviour with far-reaching benefits.”
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