I attended the IFRS Foundation’s Sustainability Symposium February 22, 2024 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York.  This is the first major symposium since ISSB released S1 and S2 [global] sustainability disclosures standards for general and climate-specific disclosures in financial filings.  The hall was packed with ~1,200 attendees, with hundreds more viewing online.  The program was informative, as were conversations at breaks.  Here are five takeaways from the experience. 

1. ISSB is here to stay. If one excludes the US, approximately half of the remainder of the global economy has signed on to the ISSB standards.  Recall SASB – which originated as a US-centric approach – is now a part of the IFRS Foundation, which has promulgated global standards for disclosures in financial filings.  What the SEC does (or does not do) on climate disclosures ultimately won’t matter much to global companies based in the US.  Data enabling many disclosures originates in the supply chain.  Symposium attendees consisted of companies, preparers, consultants, other standard setters, government, media and academics.   (Read More)