The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), GSG Impact, IFRS Foundation, and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) have joined hands to form Sustainability Disclosure and Management Hubs (SDMHs) which will advance the adoption of international standards for improving corporate sustainability disclosures globally.
Building on the existing collaboration between UNDP and the IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standards Board, which began with a Partnership Framework at COP27 in 2022, this enhanced alliance will see UNDP spearheading the creation SDMHs. These hubs will support the facilitate the adoption and implementation of sustainability disclosure and management standards, including IFRS S1 for General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information, IFRS S2 for Climate-related Disclosures, GRI Standards for impact reporting, and management standards developed by ISO and UNDP.
Marcos Neto, Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said, “These hubs will empower developing and emerging economies, fostering capacity building in sustainability disclosure and management while aligning with their national development priorities through a comprehensive approach.”
This year, the SDMHs will launch pilot projects in six developing and emerging economies across Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. These projects will focus on capacity building, aligning with national development priorities, providing stock exchange guidance, and developing regulations. The initiative will expand to eight additional countries in 2025, reaching a total of 14 countries under the programme.
“The introduction of the ISSB Standards globally can help deliver decision-useful, consistent and comparable information to investors globally, advancing the understanding of the sustainability-related risks and opportunities companies face. To secure this, guidance, education and training is needed. We applaud UNDP for their leadership in establishing sustainability disclosure hubs,” said Jingdong Hua, Vice-Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
“We are proud to be part of this initiative from UNDP, which supports companies and governments to understand how our various disclosure mechanisms and frameworks complement each other to increase transparency, support sustainable development and help companies remain competitive,” said Peter Paul van de Wijs, Chief External Affairs Officer of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
“The SDMH initiative is another opportunity to have the meaningful impact together that we would not be able to achieve alone. We look forward to bringing the value of ISO to the partnership and working with all involved. Our standards are more powerful together. By demonstrating the connection and interoperability between them, we will be building capacity in countries with developing and emerging economies to more effectively and efficiently manage sustainability disclosures,” said Sergio Mujica, Secretary General of International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
“As long-standing partners of UNDP, and members of the IFRS Foundation’s ISSB Sustainability Consultative Committee and Partnership Framework for Capacity Building, we are delighted to support the establishment of SDMHs, through close collaboration at the global level and also through our GSG National Partners in emerging economies included in the 2024-2025 leg of the UNDP initiative,” said Nick Hurd, Chair of GSG Impact and the Impact Taskforce.