While some jurisdictions are walking back or delaying climate reporting, New Zealand recently announced its intention to adopt mandatory reporting. The country’s External Reporting Board (XRB) recently issued a draft consultation proposing the adoption of IFRS 2 for climate reporting. The consultation lists its general objectives for the reporting framework:
- “issuing a new climate standard: NZ IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (NZ IFRS S2)
- that NZ IFRS S2 will be:
- internationally aligned by adopting IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (IFRS S2)2 3 as its
basis (see section 5 of this consultation document)- harmonised with Australia by considering what approach to take where there are differences between IFRS S2 and the climate reporting obligations in Australia under AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures (AASB S2) and the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (see section 6)
- locally relevant by considering what modifications, if any, are needed to fit with New Zealand’s legislative and regulatory settings, reporting practice and market context (see section 7)
- a multi-year transition period before NZ IFRS S2 becomes mandatory.”
Interestingly, the XRB is only consulting on climate disclosures, not sustainability reporting more generally under IFRS S1. The Board’s position is that it has the statutory authority to introduce climate reporting obligations, but not sustainability more broadly.
Our members can learn more about global sustainability reporting requirements here.
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