SVI Submits Response To IFRS Consultation
SVI Submits Response To IFRS Consultation On Targeted Amendments To The IFRS Foundation Constitution To Accommodate An International Sustainability Standards Board To Set IFRS Sustainability Standards. If you are also interested in submitting a response, please note that the deadline is 29th July. We will be holding a webinar in the next few weeks to discuss the implications of these amendments and how we can work together as a network to help shape future plans of the IFRS and the proposed Sustainability Standards Board. Please get in touch if you are interested in supporting this work or finding out more.
Below is a short summary:
Social Value International is grateful for the opportunity to provide feedback and comment on the Exposure Draft of Proposed Targeted Amendments to the IFRS Foundation Constitution (the exposure draft) published by the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation (the Trustees).
Social Value International is a membership led ‘network of networks’ with a shared mission to change the way society accounts for value. Working with members and partners we are developing a principles based approach to accounting for value in order to reduce inequality and promote wellbeing of people and planet.
The full response to each of the consultation questions can be found above but in summary:
SVI believe that the strategic direction of the proposed Sustainability Standards Board (SSB) is not clear especially in relation to the word ‘sustainability’ and the general concept of ‘sustainable development’. The stated focus of the new board is on information that affects ‘enterprise value’ creation which is fundamentally different to information on achieving sustainable development.
SVI believe that the name of the new board adds more confusion to the market. If the SSB is about sustainability then this should be clearer in the stated strategy and the appropriate skills and experience of sustainability experts should be recruited to the board from the beginning.
To avoid duplication of effort there should be more collaboration with sustainability focussed standards board that already exist such as the Global Sustainability Standards Board and the Global Reporting Initiative.
Many of the respondents to the original proposals stated that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should guide or be a reference point for the new SSB. Given the scale of the challenge the world faces in achieving these goals it seems appropriate that any initiative working ‘in the public interest’ and using the word ‘sustainability’ should use the SDGs as an explicit reference point.