International Exposure Drafts

You can view all international exposure drafts, consultation papers or discussion papers that are open for comment here.

IESBA proposes ethical standards for Sustainability Reporting and Assurance

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (the IESBA) has issued two exposures drafts related to ethical considerations in sustainability reporting and assurance:

The Exposure Draft on International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA) and ethics standards for sustainability reporting proposes a clear framework of expected behaviors and ethics provisions for use by all sustainability assurance practitioners regardless of their professional backgrounds, as well as professional accountants involved in sustainability reporting. The goal of these standards is to mitigate greenwashing and elevate the quality of sustainability information, thereby fostering greater public and institutional trust in sustainability reporting and assurance.

The Exposure Draft on Using the Work of an External Expert proposes an ethical framework to guide professional accountants or sustainability assurance practitioners, as applicable, in evaluating whether an external expert has the necessary competence, capabilities and objectivity in order to use that expert’s work for the intended purposes. The proposals also include provisions to aid in applying the Code’s conceptual framework when using the work of an external expert.

The exposure drafts are available to review on the IESBA’s website, with the IESBA comment period on the Using the Work of an External Expert ED closing 30 April 2024 and on the sustainability ED by 10 May 2024.

Local submissions

Stakeholders are invited to submit comments to the APESB via the International Exposure Drafts page by 19 April 2024 for consideration in developing APESB’s submissions to the IESBA. Alternatively, submissions can be sent via email to: sub@apesb.org.au.




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