On March 28, 2016, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) announced the launch of its Advisory Partner Program to support corporate and investor application of sustainability disclosure standards and guidance. We are proud to have been selected as one of the ten founding Advisory Partners and the only Canadian firm certified to support the application of SASB standards.
SASB, an independent American non-profit chaired by Michael Bloomberg, develops and disseminates sustainability accounting standards that help public corporations disclose material, decision-useful information to investors. Investors representing more than $23 trillion in assets under management and corporations worth $11 trillion in market capitalization have participated in SASB working groups to create provisional standards for 79 industries. The last provisional standards will be made publicly available on March 30, 2016.
From SASB’s announcement:
“Now that SASB’s first set of provisional standards is nearly complete, we’re increasingly focusing on supporting use of the standards by companies and investors,” says Dr. Jean Rogers, CEO and Founder of SASB. “We developed our Advisory Partnerships to formalize our support for those advancing the application of accounting standards to manage and report sustainability risks and opportunities. Each advisory partner was selected as offering the perspective, proprietary tools, and expertise to help interested companies and investors find value from using SASB standards.”
Robert Herz, Former Chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), commented that, “The Advisory Partner Program offers hands-on support for companies looking to select appropriate sustainability accounting standards for their organization and effectively embed them into core management and reporting functions.”
The international investment community is increasingly focused on climate risk. At the end of 2015, Mark Carney appointed Michael Bloomberg to lead an influential, industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), to develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial disclosure guidelines for use by companies when providing information to lenders, insurers, investors and other stakeholders. Comprised of global leaders from corporations such as Swiss Re, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, HSBC, Unilever, and AXA, the TCFD is expected to complete its work by the end of 2016.
Manifest is honoured to be a founding member of this important program and will continue to work at the leading edge of helping companies integrate climate risk into organizational decision-making and reporting structures. To learn more about how Manifest can help incorporate meaningful climate disclosure into your organization, contact us
