Global ESG Accounting Rules Stumble on Organizational Challenges

In theory, 2022 will be a year for the International Accounting Standards Board to set its strategy and priorities for the next five years. In reality, though, one issue will dominate its agenda: the scramble to set binding rules for companies’ sustainability reporting.

“The No. 1 priority for accounting rulemakers in 2022 is to bring some rigor to the Wild West that is ESG reporting,” Karthik Ramanna, a business professor at Oxford university’s Blavatnik School of Government, said in a recent interview.

Currently, environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting is erratic and inconsistent, with no binding rules. The establishment in ...