IAASB & IESBA Fact Sheet: ISSA 5000 and IESSA: Global Baseline Standards for Sustainability Assurance

IAASB & IESBA Fact Sheet: ISSA 5000 and IESSA: Global Baseline Standards for Sustainability Assurance

• 03 February 2025
• Auditing and Assurance
• South African Accounting Academy

Summary:

The International Audit and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) have compiled and published a fact sheet on the global standards for sustainability assurance.

Article:

The IAASB’s International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, along with the IESBA’s International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA) and other sustainability-related standards, constitute a cohesive package of global standards for sustainability assurance that responds to market demand and calls from regulators and other stakeholders for reliable, credible, comparable, and trustworthy sustainability information.

A 4-page Fact Sheet was developed to provide an overview of these standards and other relevant information, including:

• What is ISSA 500 and the IESSA?
• Who do the standards apply to?
• Why were the standards developed?
• How do the standards address the public interest?
• Goals of ISSA 5000 and IESSA
• Effective date and Transitional provisions
  • ISSA 5000 will be effective for assurance engagements on sustainability information reported for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026.
  • The IESSA has the same effective date (except for certain provisions pertaining to value chain components, which will be effective from 1 July 2028)

The proposed Exposure Draft (ED) ISSA 5000 was published in August 2023, and finally approved by the IAASB in September 2024.

Click here to download the 4-page Fact Sheet:

https://ifacweb.blob.core.windows.net/publicfiles/2025-01/IAASB-IESBA-Global-Baseline-Standards-Sustainability-Assurance.pdf

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

• As an auditor and independent reviewer, you need to comply with International Standards on Auditing and other Assurance Services, and thus you need knowledge of newly revised standards that are approved as well as when they become effective.
• As an accountant, auditor and independent reviewer, you need to comply with International Code of Professional Conduct.
• Failure to adhere to the Code may lead to disciplinary action.
• Failure to adhere to International Standards of audit and assurance may be interpreted as negligence and you could be held liable.
• As an auditor and independent reviewer, you should be aware of new standards issued by the standard-setting bodies, e.g. the IAASB and IESBA (responsible for the latest standards of the International code of ethics for professional accountants).

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