Australia’s sustainable finance strategy
The Australian government has launched its Sustainable Finance Strategy, a step toward achieving net-zero emissions. This framework aims to dismantle barriers to sustainable investments, aligning with global environmental goals.
The strategy emphasises improved transparency in climate and sustainability reporting. As we saw earlier this year, Australia aims to introduce mandatory climate-related disclosures by July 2024 for the largest listed companies.
A key priority within the strategy is the establishment of a robust framework for sustainability-related financial disclosures – building on the progress of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and informed by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Global alignment with ongoing and emerging international sustainability-related financial disclosure frameworks is also promised.
Despite the recently published strategy including a pledge to develop a sustainable finance taxonomy, this is not, for now, Australia pivoting in digital disclosures in this area. The promised sustainable finance taxonomies will be a set of criteria used to evaluate the sustainability of economic activities. For the moment, ESG disclosures down under will not be digital – although we hope to see that change for enhanced transparency and international comparability in the relatively near future.
Read more and respond to the consultation here.
