The IPSASB begins the development of a Climate-related Disclosures standard for the public sector

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) approved a project brief at their June 2023 meeting to begin the development of a Climate-related Disclosures standard. This will be the first standard in a suite of public sector sustainability reporting standards.

The IPSASB established a climate-related topic Working Group to provide climate-related expertise and advice for the development of the standard. The IPSASB also established a Sustainability Reference Group to provide advice on the development of its overall sustainability reporting standards.

The draft Climate-related Disclosures standard was discussed at the December 2023 IPSASB meeting. The IPSASB reviewed the objectives, scope and conceptual foundations for the development of the draft standard for the public sector.

The objective of the proposed standard is to provide the principles for disclosures on climate-related impacts, risks and opportunities to support decision making and to hold entities accountable for an entity’s contribution to combat climate change. They decided that the definition of materiality in the IPSASB Conceptual Framework should be used for the draft standard. The IPSASB considered that the guidance should identify information for disclosures on:

• understanding the entity’s context;
• identifying climate-related impacts, risks and opportunities; and
• determining material information.

The draft standard includes some principles from the IFRS Sustainability Standards as well as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. The GRI Standards represent global best practice for reporting on economic, environmental and social impacts. As these frameworks are not written for the public sector ecosystem, the IPSASB emphasised that there are public sector specificities that the draft standard should consider.

The IPSASB will continue their discussion on Climate-related Disclosures at their March 2024 meeting.

Disclaimer

The article has been prepared by the Secretariat of the ASB for information purposes only. It has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise acted on by the Board.