Global ESG Reporting Standards Are Here, But Challenges Await

The accounting world welcomed the International Sustainability Standards Board’s publication of its first two standards Monday, but warned that the path to country-by-country adoption might be a rocky one.

The ISSB’s first two standards—described by ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber as “just the starting point—mark an important step toward uniform corporate reporting of climate and sustainability information. They cover climate and general ESG reporting and will become effective in 2024.

“While jurisdictions around the world are increasingly establishing their own regulations and standards on sustainability disclosure to meet their own policy priorities, policymakers and regulators should keep the objective of ...