International Sustainability Standards Board appoints chair

Emmanuel Faber was appointed chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board by the IFRS Foundation, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

His appointment follows the announcement made at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November of the creation of the ISSB as a consolidation of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board and the Value Reporting Foundation into the IFRS Foundation.

A former chair of the board and CEO at Danone, Faber has championed the importance of sustainability information to investors and led the food company to add innovations to help investors and credit providers better understand sustainability factors in assessing enterprise value.

The ISSB will develop IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards as a global baseline of disclosure requirements to give investors high-quality, globally comparable sustainability information, and will work closely with the IASB to ensure compatibility with IFRS Accounting Standards and IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.

“Emmanuel Faber has been a long-term proponent of companies factoring sustainability matters into their strategy and in their reporting to the markets,” said IFRS Foundation Trustees chair Erkki Liikanen in a statement. “His global leadership skills and drive make him the ideal inaugural ISSB Chair to lead the development of standards to meet investors’ demand for information about climate and other sustainability matters.”

Faber has lived and held senior leadership positions across four continents and founded and chairs several international organizations and initiatives, including the One Planet Business for Biodiversity coalition and the G7 Business for Inclusive Growth coalition.

“Investors are demanding high quality, globally comparable sustainability information on which to make informed investment decisions. The ISSB represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fulfill that need in a fast-changing world, where climate in particular will drive major shifts in the coming years,” said Faber in a statement. “We should move diligently and build on the great momentum resulting from the formation of the ISSB at COP26. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with stakeholders across the world in developing ESG standards that inform global capital allocations, market prices and cost of capital, working alongside the IASB.”

The trustees will soon be calling for nominations for remaining ISSB members, with a goal of achieving diversity in representation and professionalism experience, and will announce vice chair and senior staff member appointments.

“Congratulations to Emmanuel on his appointment. I look forward to working closely with him and his board to serve the information needs of investors,” said IASB chair Andreas Barckow in a statement. “The appointment of Faber, which is for an initial three-year term, is supported by the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board, which oversees various aspects of the governance of the IFRS Foundation.”

“I congratulate Mr. Faber on his appointment to the ISSB,” stated Eelco van der Enden, who will start in post as the Global Reporting Initiative CEO Jan. 1. “It is very encouraging that an influential and well-known voice of business will be leading the work of the IFRS to develop these investor-focused sustainability standards. As he has previously demonstrated, Mr. Faber has a keen interest in both financial and sustainability reporting. It is important to recognize that, for reporting to illuminate the full range of impacts that companies have on society and the planet, it needs to take account of a multitude of stakeholders. As such, I am sure Mr. Faber will be as keen to engage with GRI as I am to engage with the ISSB. As we both take up our posts in the new year, I very much look forward to opportunities for us to work together.”