13 June 2006

FEE calls for international standard on sustainability assurance

The FEE published a discussion paper on Key Issues in Sustainability Assurance reviewing the existing European standards for sustainability assurance used in selected countries, analysing the differing practices in this area and indicate where further international guidance would be desirable. The report concludes that there is a need for a more specific international standard for assurance on corporate social responsibility reports. The analysis examines areas where reporting sustainability performance gives rise to the need to go further than a generic assurance standard and associated guidance. The analysis also deals with the way standards are prepared: taking into consideration their scope and interaction with other authoritative pronouncements, such as those relating to independence.

FEE concludes that the international generic material for assurance is not itself sufficient in the area of sustainability reporting, primarily because of the complexity of the subject matter. Nevertheless, it provides an appropriate starting point for more-specific standards.

FEE called on the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) to build on the current national standards in this area and to develop an international standard for sustainability assurance.

Press release
Discussion paper

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