BUILDING TRUST IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR ASSURANCE

The document outlines a systematic approach to integrating sustainability reporting into a company's existing financial reporting governance. It advocates for the use of the IIA's Three Lines Model to segregate roles between operational management, risk oversight, and independent audit. The guide details an annual cycle of control activities—including materiality assessments, risk assessments of material misstatement, and the creation of control catalogues and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)—to ensure sustainability disclosures meet the rigor of financial statements and align with global standards like ISSB and CSRD.

• Effective governance and controls are necessary to align sustainability reporting with financial reporting in terms of quality, timing, and connectivity, which helps reduce the risk of modified audit opinions or assurance conclusions.
• The guide recommends the Institute of Internal Auditors’ Three Lines Model to clarify governance roles: the first line owns and manages risks; the second line provides specialist risk and compliance oversight; and the third line (internal audit) provides independent assurance.
• Companies can leverage existing Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) processes to collect sustainability data, which reduces compliance costs and increases information reliability.
• A systematic annual cycle for sustainability controls should be implemented, starting with a materiality assessment to determine reporting priorities, followed by a risk assessment of material misstatement for specific Disclosure Requirements (DRs).
• To mitigate risks, companies should develop control catalogues and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that define control objectives, activities, and the specific evidence required to prove a control was performed satisfactorily.
• The guide suggests a monitoring plan to validate controls, potentially using a rotation plan for subsidiaries and incorporating external data like Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index to identify high-risk entities.
• External assurance levels vary between 'limited' and 'reasonable' assurance, with the latter being similar to a financial statement audit. The International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA 5000) provides a global baseline for these engagements.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2024). BUILDING TRUST IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR ASSURANCE. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IFAC-Building-trust-in-sustainability-reporting-and-preparing-for-assurance.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. BUILDING TRUST IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR ASSURANCE. 2024. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IFAC-Building-trust-in-sustainability-reporting-and-preparing-for-assurance.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=BUILDING TRUST IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR ASSURANCE |date=2024 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IFAC-Building-trust-in-sustainability-reporting-and-preparing-for-assurance.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2024building, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{BUILDING TRUST IN SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AND PREPARING FOR ASSURANCE}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2024}, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IFAC-Building-trust-in-sustainability-reporting-and-preparing-for-assurance.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }