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Sharon F.'s avatar

Jessica, this is great! Thanks for reporting. Please don't leave out the insurance industry.. "the worse things are in the future, the more we can charge upfront.."

Or the USG using info from foundations that hasn't been ground-truthed or subject to the Data Quality Act. https://forestpolicypub.com/2023/02/22/ceq-uses-first-streets-wildfire-risk-maps-instead-of-us-government-maps-in-ej-screening-tool-why/

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Tammy Nemeth's avatar

Thank you for pointing out the various conflicts of interest in the ESG-Finance-Industry space. Last week, the FSB announced that the ISSB will take over the monitoring of TCFD aligned companies. https://www.ifrs.org/news-and-events/news/2023/07/foundation-welcomes-tcfd-responsibilities-from-2024/

The new ISSB/IFRS Sustainability and Climate related Financial Disclosure Standards S1 and S2 essentially embed GFANZ pledges into accounting, thus effectively doing an end-run around anti-trust accusations. Although the US will likely not adopt the ISSB standards, the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is aligned with the ISSB, thus American companies dealing in the EU or with EU companies will have to comply. Canada is also considering adpoting the ISSB standards thus American companies operating in Canada will have to comply. The SEC is also on the ISSB Jurisdictional Working Group and there is some indication that it is working to align the forthcoming climate rules with the ISSB. https://www.ifrs.org/groups/jurisdictional-working-group/#members

Of note, the big four accounting firms along with the WEF, IASB, CDSB, TCFD, VRF, were consulted on and helped draft the standards, then submitted comments supporting the standards, and some are listed as stakeholders wanting the standards.

At every opportunity, ISSB board members and supporters repeat the mantra that there's an urgent need for, and stakeholders are demanding, a new global language, a new global standard. But when pressed and asked who exactly is clamouring for this, which stakeholders in particular, there is either silence or a general statement of "investors" or "banking" or "capital markets".

There is a very real tightening and global standardization of ESG-style financial disclosures that will affect US companies even with the various counter-legislative measures introduced so far. Those companies currently voluntarily using TCFD reporting guidelines or the CDP or GRI questionnaires and metrics will also be pulled into this new global language since the CDP will use the ISSB disclosures, plus, the GRI has an MOU with the ISSB to collaborate on incorporating the ISSB disclosures with the GRI metrics.

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