At the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation Sustainability Symposium held in London on 30 October 2025 (Symposium), the IFRS Foundation announced a new “global passport” initiative to reduce the burden on global companies required to comply with different sustainability reporting requirements in different jurisdictions. Under the initiative, jurisdictions with sustainability reporting requirements would accept reports prepared in accordance with the ISSB standards, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they were prepared. The initiative should lead to lower costs and less duplication for preparers. It should also increase comparability of information for capital markets, with the ISSB Chair stating “The ISSB Standards are being firmly established as the global baseline, covering around 40% of global capital markets”.
The IFRS Foundation also confirmed that the ISSB is preparing to introduce additional disclosure requirements in standards on nature-related issues, drawing on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework. The announcement coincides with a TFND announcement in São Paulo ahead of COP30 that 733 organisations have voluntarily adopted the TNFD recommendations, representing more than USD 9 trillion in combined market capitalisation among listed firms and over USD 22 trillion in assets under management.
In this alert, we explore these two key developments in more detail and what they might mean for you.
What is the IFRS Symposium?
Every year, the Symposium convenes companies, investors, advisors, regulators and policymakers from over 45 jurisdictions to discuss the future of sustainability-related financial disclosures, including the implementation and development of the ISSB Standards.
This year, the Symposium provided a forum to discuss topics such as:
- strategic benefits of adopting ISSB Standards from corporate, investor and regulatory perspectives;
- why connectivity with financial statements matters;
- enhancing industry-based disclosure standards; and
- sustainability information that supports decision making.
The Symposium showcased how jurisdictions are progressing towards use of the ISSB Standards, the extent of alignment with other reporting regimes and the IFRS Foundation’s work to put an investor-focused global baseline into practice.
Jurisdictional Rationale Guide for the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards
A key focus of the Symposium was the need to address potential fragmentation as jurisdictions introduce sustainability-related disclosure requirements. At the Symposium, the IFRS Foundation announced an initiative to facilitate the role of the ISSB Standards as a “global passport” for sustainability reporting.
As a first step towards the “global passport”, the IFRS Foundation published a Jurisdictional Rationale Guide for the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards and an accompanying Jurisdictional Rationale Tool. This Guide provides information to assist jurisdictions to design and plan their adoption or other use of ISSB Standards and provides transparency to stakeholders on jurisdictional progress towards such adoption or other use.
In conjunction with the Guide, the Jurisdictional Rationale Tool is designed to guide jurisdictions through a structured process in considering their rationales for the adoption or other use of ISSB Standards. These tools aim to help jurisdictions and market participants rely on ISSB’s baseline as a reference point for cross-border comparison while accommodating additions specific to jurisdictions. They are designed to lower costs and reduce complexity for global companies required to comply with different sustainability reporting requirements in different jurisdictions.
ISSB to draw on the TNFD for nature-related standard setting
The ISSB has confirmed that it will draw on the TNFD framework as it advances nature‑related standard setting. The TNFD is comprised of 40 business and finance leaders globally and its framework provides recommendations on how nature-related risks and opportunities should be assessed, managed and reported. In particular, the ISSB has signalled that it will draw on metrics, disclosure recommendations and guidance of the TNFD. Bringing nature-related issues into mainstream corporate reporting practice aims to build the resilience of investor portfolios and of companies that assess and disclose nature-related issues to investors. Nature-related issues will eventually form part of the “global passport” as the ISSB begins to incorporate the TNFD framework into the ISSB Standards.
Key takeaways
Looking ahead, we expect that nature-related topics will move into scope as the ISSB draws on the TNFD framework, reinforcing the need to integrate nature governance with other sustainability and financial reporting. New disclosure requirements are likely to involve a reporting cost to your company, so we recommend taking proactive steps to align your reporting with the evolving ISSB Standards. Collectively, these measures should ease compliance burdens, improve the consistency and comparability of information provided to investors and lenders and reduce regulatory divergence across key markets.
For further advice on navigating climate reporting, please contact a member of the King & Wood Mallesons or Owl Advisory team. We are here to steer you and your company through this transition to ensure you are well-positioned for the future.
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