U.S.-Japan Council’s Japan region recently held a discussion on the latest global developments in sustainability reporting and how the United States, the European Union and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation are driving these changes. USJC Associate Kyle Lawless (EY) provided an insightful overview of what has happened since the Japan Region’s last update on international sustainability standards in November 2022. Mr. Lawless also spoke about impactful efforts by key players in detail and provided an outlook of what to expect in the upcoming year.
Prior to this regional event, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued an inaugural IFRS Sustainability Disclosure standards on June 26. (For more information, click here.), which prompted an active discussion amongst the group about the impact of this event. In addition, the group also discussed the differences between the United States, the European Union and the International Sustainability Standards Board in their efforts to shape sustainability disclosures and the steps Japan has taken over the past six months to require publicly traded companies to disclose sustainability efforts.
The Japan region is grateful to have been able to continue the discussion as the focus on consistent, comparable and reliable sustainability disclosures is expected to grow in the coming months.
Thank you to USJC Associate Shotaro Imazu (Aflac Japan) for the written content and photo!