Demystifying Sustainability Reporting – ISSB and Other Standards

August 17, 2024

Sustainability reporting is fast becoming mandatory like financial reporting in many countries under stock exchange regulations and government policies. Reporting frameworks and standards are the ‘rules of the game’, much like accounting principles which all business and finance professionals should have a basic grasp of. Sustainability reporting is also a cross-functional activity, which requires collaboration across the whole company.

This workshop helps participants to understand the concepts and requirements of the key sustainability reporting frameworks and standards being used across the world. It introduces the local regulations that apply to Singapore companies under ACRA’s mandatory climate disclosures rules as well as SGX regulations for listed companies. Participants will also learn how SMEs can assess and implement voluntary ESG reporting to meet the requirements of their MNC clients.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to :

Appreciate the history of sustainability reporting and how it evolved
Appreciate how ESG information is used by external stakeholders
Understand the connection between sustainability risks & opportunities and financial drivers of company performance
Understand the basic requirements of commonly used sustainability reporting standards & frameworks
Understand the mandatory requirements for climate-related disclosures under Singapore’s adoption of the ISSB Standards
Help your company prepare for sustainability reporting
Help ensure the quality of sustainability data and meet the requirements of external assurance
Gain an overview of the international sustainability reporting landscape
Understand Singapore’s rules & regulations, as well as subsidies and grants available

Introduction to Sustainability Reporting
- Origins of sustainability reporting
- The ‘alphabet soup’ syndrome
- Frameworks vs standards
- Inside-out vs outside-in
- Industry-based vs topic-based
- Non-standardised names & definitions

Why Sustainability Reporting is Needed
- Impact & ESG investing
- Rise of intangible assets
- Sustainability and financial performance
- Integrated reporting

Major Reporting Frameworks & Standards
- GRI
- SASB
- TCFD
- ISSB
- ESRS
- UN SDG
- CDP

Climate-related Disclosures Under the ISSB Standards
- The core content required under the ISSB Standards
- Identifying climate-related risks & opportunities
- Connecting risks & opportunities with financial impact
- Reporting industry specific metrics under IFRS S2
- General reporting requirements & transition reliefs

Implementing Sustainability Reporting in Your Company
- Why do sustainability reporting?
- Who should be involved within the company?
- Which sustainability reporting standards to use?
- Sustainability reporting for SMEs

Data Quality, Internal Control & External Assurance
- Identifying data gaps
- Structured vs unstructured data
- Characters of decision-useful disclosures
- The three pillars of quality data
- Types of audits – limited & reasonable assurance

Sustainability Reporting Regulations & Policies
- Global sustainability reporting rates
- Global transition to mandatory reporting
- Singapore’s rules & regulations
- Local subsidies and grants

This workshop qualifies for 7.0 CPE hours in Financial and Sustainability Reporting Standards and Pronouncements (Category 1).

Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to access the online interactive exercises and reference materials.

As part of our commitment towards minimizing carbon footprint and contributing to a healthier planet, we will only be issuing the soft copy of the training materials.

The training materials will be emailed to you 2 days before the workshop. Charging points are available in the training room to charge your digital device.

Sustainability executives
Business unit heads and line managers with sustainability responsibilities
Finance, marketing and investor relations executives
Operations and technology executives involved in sustainability reporting and data collection
Legal & compliance executives dealing with risk management
Anyone else interested to learn the basics of sustainability reporting

Expert Speaker

Lance Ng

Lance Ng is an FSA Credential Holder, GRI Certified Sustainability Professional and GHG Lead Verifier. He specializes in helping corporates with ESG projects and sustainability reporting. His online courses on sustainability reporting have been taken by individuals from all over the world, including C-Suites, company directors, ESG consultants from the Big 4, and senior executives in sustainability-related roles. He also delivers bespoke corporate training, counting amongst his clients the Energy Market Company (EMC) and Climate Impact X (CIX).

Lance founded the CSO Centre, an authorized FSA Credential Education Provider (AEP). The FSA Credential is the most advanced credential related to the ISSB Standards. CSO Centre is one of only six AEPs in the world and the only one in Asia. Lance is also an associate lecturer with Ngee Ann Polytechnic for various sustainability-related courses and an accredited trainer with the Institute of Banking & Finance (IBF) for sustainability reporting. Prior to founding CSO Centre, Lance had more than 20 years of working experience in JP Morgan, Citibank and Singapore Exchange.

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