The likely adoption of the IFRS Foundation's proposed sustainability reporting standards

Abstract

There has been a rising demand for the global convergence of sustainability reporting standards (SRS) to provide consistency and comparability. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation has stepped forward, formed the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and proposes to develop a global set of SRS. These standards will focus on the financial impacts of sustainability issues and are targeted towards the investor. However, this approach does not align with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most commonly used sustainability reporting framework globally, which adopts a multistakeholder focus. This study aims to analyse the SRS currently being used by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Top 100 companies, the respective focus of these standards, and suggest whether these companies are likely to adopt the ISSB standards over the frameworks currently being used. A content analysis approach is adopted. The reports and websites of these companies are examined to identify the sustainability reporting guidelines and frameworks currently being used and whether these companies submit disclosures to reporting bodies. The results show that regardless of whether the ISSB standards are adopted, companies are likely to continue using the current frameworks to report beyond the financial impact of sustainability issues.