On 31st January 2022, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) was consolidated into the IFRS Foundation to support the work of the newly established International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). While this site and its resources remain relevant for preparers looking to improve sustainability disclosure until such time as the ISSB issues its IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards on such topics, no further work or guidance will be produced or published by CDSB. For further information please visit the IFRS website.

CERES recommends CDSB Framework as solution to cool response to SEC climate change reporting

Investor network concludes that SEC’s commitment to facilitating adequate climate disclosure does not reflect the increasing risks and opportunities posed by climate change for investors.

The new report by Ceres, “Cool Response: The SEC and Corporate Climate Change Reporting” examines the state of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC’s) climate disclosure guidance and associated SEC comment letters. Recommendations are made for both SEC’s improved implementation and companies’ compliance with disclosure guidelines. 

An important recommendation made to organisations is to be specific in their discussion of the risks and opportunities affecting assets and operations. Here, CDSB’s Framework is recommended as; “focused on reporting how climate change affects company’s financial performance,” and an important tool to supplement the SEC’s guidance.

“For disclosing climate change information in SEC filings, we recommend companies use the Climate Disclosure Standards Board’s (CDSB) Climate Change Reporting Framework to supplement the SEC’s Guidance. The Framework, which was designed to elicit climate change-related information of value to investors in mainstream financial reports, is focused on reporting how climate change affects a company’s financial performance.” 

CDSB also works with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) that develops sector-specific sustainability KPIs for mandatory filings to the SEC, such as the Form 10-K and 20-F.