PGGM, Norges Bank Investment Management and Brunel Pension Partnership are among 120 institutions calling today for regulators to adopt International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) disclosure rules by the end of 2025.
In a letter coordinated by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the asset owners urge “relevant authorities across jurisdictions” to introduce reporting requirements based on ISSB’s first two standards.
ISSB is the body tasked with designing a global framework to help standardise reporting on environmental and social issues in the private sector – mirroring what the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) does for conventional financial reporting.
Last summer, it published one overarching disclosure standard, and one specifically focused on climate change.
Other asset owners calling for the speedy and widespread adoption of the standards in today’s letter include the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund, Now:Pensions, Allianz and the North East Scotland Pension Fund.
They were joined by pension funds from South Africa, the US, Australia and Canada, and big asset managers including Legal & General Investment Management.
“Investors have been calling for standardised globally consistent corporate sustainability data for over a decade,” the letter stated.
“There is an urgent need for this data to enable capital markets to act in a more efficient and effective manner to account for sustainability priorities.”
It added that “committing to adopt these rules by 2025 is therefore essential”.
A spokesperson for PGGM said achieving and reporting on progress towards its sustainability goals required “a common language”, and urged lawmakers to adopt ISSB “in all major capital markets we invest in globally”.
Progress so far
Some governments have already integrated ISSB’s requirements into regulation, including Brazil, Nigeria and Turkey.
Numerous other countries, such as Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore, have signalled that they will follow suit.
The European Union has incorporated the standards into its disclosure rules, although it has opted for a more thorough regime, including a clearer obligation for companies to explain their impact on sustainable development – not just how sustainability issues might impact their own business activities.
Last week, the UK government appointed an advisory body to assess how it should adopt ISSB’s standards in a way that suits the UK economy. It promised to do so by next year.
Among those on the new advisory body were representatives from the London Stock Exchange Group and Generation Investment Management; both signatories to today’s letter.
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