FRC, ACCA, ICAN collaborate for effective adoption of Sustainability Standards

By Chioma Obinagwam

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) have agreed to collaborate to ensure the effective adoption of the Sustainability Standards.

Confiance News gathered from the stakeholders during a panel discussion titled: “The role of the accounting profession in developing capacity to implement the ISSB Sustainability Standards” at the weekend.

Speaking at the session, the Director Public Sector Accounting Standards, FRC Nigeria, Iheanyi Anyahara pointed the need for stakeholders in the profession to collaborate with regards to development of skills for sustainability reporting.

“The profession should look at a curriculum and incorporate what we need to perform effectively. Therefore, I look forward to seeing reskilling, upskilling and acquiring new skills to see how we can perform.

“I therefore enjoin all of us to join the train while it is departing and not try and join the train while it is on top speed,” he advised.

Corroborating, the President of ICAN— a professional accountancy body in Nigeria recognized by International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Innocent Okwuosa said that the role accountants play in businesses in developed countries lies in their ability to provide information for the public to make proper investment decisions.

On her part, ACCA’s Regional Head of Public Affairs, Africa, Jane Ohadike said,”We know that a new set of sustainability standards Other professions are looking to the accounting profession. We need to work together under the leadership of the adoption readiness group.”

IFRS S1, S2 Sustainability Standards explained

Confiance News recalls that on June 26, 2023, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued its premier standards— IFRS S1, which provides a set of disclosure requirements designed to enable companies to communicate to investors about the sustainability-related risks and opportunities they face over the short, medium and long term.

Similarly, on the same day, it launched IFRS S2, which sets out specific climate-related disclosures and is designed to complement IFRS S1.

Nigeria hopes to adopt the standards by January 2024; hence, becoming the first country in Africa to adopt the S1 and S2 Sustainability Standards.