Frank Bold's response to the ISSB future agenda priorities consultation

Last Friday, we submitted our recommendations to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)’s agenda priorities. Frank Bold encouraged the ISSB to:

• Focus in the first place on developing supporting materials for the implementation of the existing standards.
• Bringing new research and standard-setting projects, to the extent that it entails expanding ISSB standards to matters beyond climate, should be prioritised next.
• We welcome the proposed commitment towards prioritising "social related" disclosures (human capital and human rights) as well as biodiversity disclosures.
• Social standards need to start with a cross-cutting thematic standard instead of working either separately or in parallel on "human capital" and "human rights" standards, in order to avoid contributing to a confused landscape regarding social issues.
• Both for the development of a social standard and biodiversity disclosures, the ISSB should harness existing international instruments -in particular the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the extensive implementation of social disclosures in the GRI, the UNEP Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the TNFD- and the experience gathered in the development of the European Standards in both areas by EFRAG.
• Alignment with universally accepted principles and frameworks established by the abovementioned instruments is fundamental, with alternatives approaches leading to undesired further fragmentation in the area of sustainability reporting.