An international sustainability board is moving closer to finalizing climate disclosure standards for businesses – a move which could be of interest to promotional products firms that report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters.

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), created last year by the IFRS Foundation, has two proposals drafted: One would require companies to disclose climate-related risks like floods and other extreme weather events; the other would require sharing broader information about sustainability risks and the processes in place to manage them.

The purpose behind the ISSB proposals is to set a global baseline for disclosures, since companies currently deal with a variety of standards and regulatory requirements. Once enacted, the standards could be adopted by various jurisdictions, which would make them binding for companies within those areas. Firms could also choose to voluntarily adopt the standards.

During a 120-day public-comment period, the ISSB received more than 1,300 responses to its draft standards.

“I’m encouraged by the number of comments we have received on our proposals,” said Emmanuel Faber, chairman of the ISSB. “Global solutions require collective action, and the feedback we have received provides a critical grounding on which to build sustainability disclosure standards that provide a global baseline for the capital markets.”

Among the many responses to the ISSB’s proposals was a letter signed by dozens of chief financial officers, which said the board should focus on aligning standards with existing standards, and that the board should also incorporate social issues into the sustainability topics it covers.

Executives also raised questions on how the ISSB’s rules would interact with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to require businesses to report on greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks.

“If information responding to ISSB requirements is meant to be included in regulated filings or linked from regulated filings, the definition of the threshold for inclusion (significant risks and opportunities) is confusing and likely at odds with the SEC standard for inclusion,” Emmanuel Babeau, CFO of Philip Morris, wrote in a July 29 letter to the ISSB.

Faber told the Wall Street Journal that the ISSB will review the comments during a September meeting and likely issue its new rules early next year to give companies more time to implement the requirements.

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