The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), a three-year-old initiative, is encountering challenges related to its agenda, overlap with other regulatory bodies, and its long-term financial sustainability. The ISSB, which was launched in November 2021, aims to create a comprehensive framework for corporate sustainability reporting that can be adopted globally. These standards focus on issues such as the business impacts of climate change, striving for comparable and consistent disclosure practices to replace the currently fragmented voluntary frameworks.
However, the board is now facing a critical juncture as its funding arrangements with Germany, Canada, and China are set to expire. Compounding the problem, the ISSB has had to halt some new projects to concentrate on implementing its existing standards effectively.
The ISSB operates alongside its sister organization, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, which has a longer history and established credibility. The sustainability board’s goal is to ensure that its rules become mandatory in participating countries, but as of now, no country has officially adopted these standards (Bloomberg).