Climate change

Money managers and pension funds want companies to publish their 2020 annual reports in line with guidance from the International Accounting Standards Board.

Large firms have been reporting revenue increases amid the pandemic.

The Carbon Disclosure Project, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, the Global Reporting Initiative, the International Integrated Reporting Council and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board will work on a common set of disclosures.

The American Institute of CPAs has received an increasing number of questions on sustainability assurance engagements.

The changes represent probably the biggest overhaul of Regulation S-K disclosures in more than three decades.

Sustainability reporting is quickly going mainstream. While companies aren’t always required by regulators to report their greenhouse gas emissions, human rights records and wastewater management, investors are pushing them for this information at a faster clip.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the Global Reporting Initiative announced a collaborative work plan to provide more clarity on how their two sets of standards can be used together.

Disclosures of nonfinancial information, such as environmental, social and governance issues, aren’t always “clear or useful,” according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

Audit firms can enhance the reliability of environmental, social and governance reporting, according to a new report from the Center for Audit Quality.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board voted during an online meeting last week to open a new standard-setting project to address single-use plastics and bio-alternatives in the chemicals and pulp and paper industries.