AASB-AUASB Joint Research Report: Trends in climate-related disclosures and assurance in the Annual Reports of ASX-listed entities

Monday, November 27, 2023

The AASB and the AUASB have recently published an updated joint Research Report (authored by Jean You and Professor Roger Simnett) which identifies climate-related disclosures and associated assurance practices in the Annual Reports of ASX-listed entities. This publication builds on the previously issued AASB-AUASB Research Report Climate-related disclosures and assurance in the annual reports of ASX-listed companies by extending the 2018-2021 sample period to 2022.

This Research Report identifies several trends in climate-related reporting and assurance that have continued in 2022, including:

• Entities are increasingly disclosing climate-related information in their Annual Report/Corporate Governance Statement;
• Climate-sensitive industries continue to be more likely to disclose climate-related information with extant reporting standards and/or guidelines;
• Most disclosures are outside of the financial statements and are therefore not subject to audit;
• There continues to be an increase in the number of disclosers referencing the TCFD recommendations, including reporting against the four pillars;
• The number of climate-related content in Key Audit Matters (KAMs) continues to increase; and

Limited assurance is still the dominant level of assurance being provided over climate-related information, with only three instances where both limited and reasonable assurance was provided.