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The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is calling on anyone involved with preparing, using and regulating sustainability reports to give feedback on its proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance – ISSA 5000.
ISA 5000 is set to be the most comprehensive sustainability assurance standard globally yet, distinguishing the assurance of sustainability information from the more general International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000.
Launching its consultation on the standard, IAASB Vice Chair, Josephine Jackson described ISSA 5000 as a “global baseline for sustainability assurance”.
She said: “ISA 5000 will be adaptable to information provided by any size entity, under any suitable sustainability reporting framework. It will be available to all assurance practitioners from any profession who meet relevant ethical and quality management requirements.”
This standard will apply to all reported sustainability information, whether related to the impact of sustainability matters on an entity, or an entity’s impact on sustainability, and can be used for both limited and reasonable assurance engagements.
Responding to the publication of the draft standard, ICAEW’s director, audit & corporate reporting, Dr Nigel Sleigh-Johnson, said: “We’re pleased to see publication of this draft standalone global standard on sustainability assurance, which represents a much-needed element of the global institutional framework required to underpin high-quality and consistent sustainability reporting by companies around the world.”
ICAEW has applauded IAASB on the rapid development of the draft standard, producing this exposure draft at a previously unseen pace and called for the broader assurance community to continue the momentum.
Alex Russell, head of audit & assurance strategy in ICAEW’s Audit & Assurance Faculty, said: “We encourage all interested stakeholders to engage with the consultation process in the coming months. We look forward to wide application of the final standard in the sustainability assurance market, with all sustainability assurance providers held to the same high bar of regulatory oversight, transparency, independence, ethics and quality management.”
