At COP26, CEOs and investors must unite behind common standards for sustainability
Emmanuel Faber, chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board
November 1, 2021
Sustainable finance will rightly be a focus at COP26 — so, too, must be the imperative that investors can access robust, consistent data on corporate sustainability performance.
—Emmanuel Faber
Common reporting standards will enable investors to shape their portfolios toward climate and social imperatives. They are also the missing link between economics and the evaluation of public policies: Governments will be held accountable by their citizens and civil society, yet much of their success in delivering on national decarbonization commitments will be determined by the private sector’s actions.
Common sustainability reporting standards will establish a shared narrative and language for all stakeholders: companies, investors, civil society organizations, philanthropists, and many more, including governments and central banks. For this reason as well, I agree with my B Team colleagues that “reporting standards should be interoperable with wider reporting expectations across jurisdictions, to customers, employees, and civil society.”
I am grateful for the ongoing efforts of the sovereign, multilateral, and independent standard setters preparing these sustainability frameworks. But the business and finance communities can do more to support and encourage this progress. Since much sustainability reporting needs to be industry-specific, global industry associations are natural stakeholders. This is a major opportunity for business and finance leaders to collectively accelerate the adoption of common metrics.
More and more companies are moving in the right direction, led by members of growing private sector coalitions that are making ambitious climate and social commitments.