King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland founded in 2004 the Accounting For Sustainability (A4S) organization with a view to developing modern reporting standards that can rise to the challenges of the 21st century, chiefly as regards developing towards more sustainable finance. Every year, it holds a Summit that gathers a large number of participants from the global financial community to explore trends and the concrete actions that can be taken to build a resilient, sustainable economy.
On 13, 14 and 15 December 2022, A4S held its 2022 Summit.
On Tuesday, 13 December, Jean-Paul Servais, Chairman of the FSMA and of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), gave a online talk on the latest global developments in the global sustainability-related reporting by companies. He stressed the important role played by IOSCO in this area and set out the priorities to be implemented in order to achieve high-quality reporting and audit standards that can help combat greenwashing and thereby contribute to strengthening consumer confidence in the financial system.
On Thursday, 15 December, Jean-Paul Servais attended the Summit in London in person, participating in a round table on sustainability-related financial reporting. Joining him at the round table were CFOs, company directors, investors and other members of the international accounting and financial community. During their discussions, he emphasised the importance of seizing to the full the opportunity offered by the establishment of global sustainability-related reporting standards. When the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will have finalised its standards, IOSCO will attentively examine them. The support of IOSCO could considerably speed up the dissemination of the new standards worldwide, as was the case at the time of the adoption of the IFRS standards.
You can re-watch the Chairman's speech here.