The global consulting and accountancy firm Grant Thornton has issued a statement in support of a standard for global climate reporting.

“Grant Thornton is pleased to support the IFRS Foundation in their push for a common global standard for climate-related disclosures,” said Trent Gazzaway, global leader of service line capabilities and quality at GTIL, of our network’s commitment to advance the International Sustainability Standards Board’s climate-related reporting.

The declaration of support – announced during Finance Day at COP28 – demonstrates the strong support to advance action-oriented responses to the risk of climate change. It states:

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“Climate risks are increasingly having a real effect on companies and capital. Therefore—in response to calls for climate action at COP28—we support the establishment of market infrastructure to enable consistent, comparable climate-related disclosures at a global level. We are committed to advancing the adoption or use of the ISSB’s Climate Standard as the climate global baseline.”

Close to 400 organizations from 64 jurisdictions, including associations gathering over 10,000 member companies and investors signed the declaration.

This groundswell of support from companies, investors, stock exchanges, the accountancy profession, multilaterals, NGOs, universities, data analytics providers, corporate advisors and others comes as the ISSB embarks on a new phase—from creation to action—following the issuance of the first two ISSB Standards in June 2023.

“It’s great to see the whole industry and many wider stakeholders sign the declaration as it will only be through all stakeholders embracing this important work that we will make meaningful progress and deliver the clarity that companies, their investors and society are asking for,” said Trent.

Companies have been calling for standards that enable them to communicate to investors comprehensive information about their climate resilience strategy.

Reflecting on the strong support heard during COP28, Emmanuel Faber, ISSB Chair, said:

“Signatories to this declaration represent organizations of all sizes from every continent. We recognize this as a signal of the urgency behind our work and confirmation that the ISSB Standards can deliver a vital global solution in the need for better information about the risks posed by climate.

“Market participants have consistently told us through consultation that they need global sustainability disclosure standards that are proportionate and scalable. The ISSB Standards provide this and with the support of organizations around the world we will work to build the market infrastructure and capacity building necessary to implement the standards worldwide.”

Accounting Standards