The Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting,
Underlining the essential role that sound sustainability reporting by entities plays in promoting sustainable investment and finance and in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals,
Acknowledging that the incorporation of environmental, social and governance factors into corporate and capital market activities and financial instruments has become a mainstream sustainability trend in recent years and is playing an important role in contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and that the coronavirus disease pandemic has significantly heightened the focus on sustainability issues,
Stressing that the existence of diverse sustainability reporting frameworks and standards leads to inconsistent and incomplete information that cannot be easily compared across companies and that there is a need to address these challenges to improve the quality and reliability of sustainability data and reporting and validate its usefulness for decision-making and risk assessment, with a view to improving corporate decision-making while strengthening investors’ and other stakeholders’ protection and information; promoting efficient and transparent markets, economies and societies; facilitating the reduction of systemic risks; and improving corporate internal control systems and management practices,
Taking note of recent trends towards convergence in enterprise accounting and reporting, including concerted efforts to overcome the fragmentation of sustainability reporting, and of the quest for standardization in this area and for an appropriate design of the governance aspects of a comprehensive global corporate reporting system,
Taking note also of recent policy decisions in a number of jurisdictions to develop and promote more consistent regulatory frameworks and standards and therefore to enhance quality in current corporate accounting and reporting practices, notably to support their sustainable development policies,
Emphasizing the need to foster efforts and cooperation in all initiatives towards a single, coherent and robust set of standards on sustainability reporting that would provide consistent and comparable data, facilitate the interconnectivity of integrated reporting and ensure an equal footing of financial and sustainability reporting,
Recalling the UNCTAD mandate to advance its work in the area of sustainability reporting, as articulated in the Nairobi Maafikiano,
- Recognizes the important role that the UNCTAD guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals has been playing as a useful tool to facilitate the convergence of sustainability reporting frameworks by providing early on an initial and simple common set of universal indicators for entities’ baseline reporting on sustainability issues in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
- Commends the UNCTAD secretariat for its work conducted during the intersessional period on Sustainable Development Goal reporting, as outlined in document TD/B/C.II/ISAR/93, and in particular, for conducting further pilot testing of the core indicators in a variety of sectors, including small entities and family-owned businesses; in this regard, welcomes the partnership established with the Family Business Network to facilitate wider implementation of the core indicators;
- Notes the usefulness of capacity-building efforts and training tools provided by the UNCTAD secretariat to facilitate wider use of the guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, raising awareness and dissemination thereof, including for small and medium-sized enterprises, and encourages further activities in this area;
- Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to convene consultative meetings during the forthcoming intersessional period, with a view to analysing the main findings of the case studies conducted on pilot testing of the guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and proposing to the thirty-eighth session of the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting any refinements thereto;
- Encourages the UNCTAD secretariat to continue engaging with relevant United Nations agencies, as well as with key regional and international institutions promoting work on the harmonization and comparability of sustainability accounting and reporting by entities in the public and private sectors, with a view to facilitating the further convergence and alignment of reporting frameworks and practices, and to continue developing metrics and tools on measuring and collecting timely and reliable data on the private sector contribution towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals;
- Calls upon the UNCTAD secretariat to continue conducting further case studies on the practical application of the guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on contribution towards implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and facilitating the identification and sharing of international best practice in enterprise reporting on sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals, in partnership with other relevant stakeholders, including as part of the Honours initiative.
