COP28 declaration highlights commitment to global climate reporting

COP28, the annual UN conference on climate change, commenced Monday with nearly 400 organisations across 64 jurisdictions committing to advance a global baseline for climate-related reporting.

AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, joined in the signing a declaration of support at Finance Day to kick off the annual Conference of the Parties, convening this year in the United Arab Emirates.

The declaration read:

"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."

The International Sustainability Standards Board, established by the IFRS Foundation, began building a global baseline for climate reporting with the release of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 in June. An exhaustive effort to help with the implementation of the standards, which have an effective date of 1 January  2024, is underway.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.