An IFAC Content Series
As the drive toward a global system for sustainability-related reporting continues, investors, regulators and policymakers are turning their attention to the important role of assurance in ensuring high-quality reporting. With the growing importance of—and reliance on—sustainability information, low-quality assurance is an emerging investor protection and financial stability risk.
The State of Play in Sustainability Assurance benchmarking study captures and analyzes the extent to which companies are reporting and obtaining assurance over their sustainability disclosures, which assurance standards are being used, and which companies are providing the assurance service. The 2019-2021 Trends & Analysis report marks our third annual benchmarking study of global practice in sustainability disclosure and its assurance.
Benchmarking Global Practice
For the third consecutive year, our analysis indicates that while the frequency of reporting ESG information is very high and the incidence of assurance is on an upward trend, there continues to be a meaningful difference between reporting and assurance rates.
95% of companies reviewed report some level of sustainability information.
64% of companies that report sustainability information provide some level of assurance on it.
57% of these assurance engagements were conducted by audit or audit-affiliated firms.
Mapping Global Reporting and Assurance Practices
This map shows a global snapshot of reporting and assurance practices including the rate of ESG assurance, the percentage companies reporting on ESG in a jurisdiction, and the percentage of assurance that is being provided by audit or affiliated firms.
Download the map to learn more.
The State of Play: Beyond the G20
The State of Play Beyond the G20 expands IFAC's sustainability disclosure and assurance data to 20 additional jurisdictions beyond the G20 previously reported on. The State of Play Beyond the G20 focuses on the Global South with data from three jurisdictions from Latin America, six in Africa and Middle East, and four in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as six smaller-sized economies within the European Economic Area and Switzerland.
Benchmarking Reports
Learn about Using ISAE 3000 (Revised) in Sustainability Assurance Engagements with IFAC's accompanying guide.