EFRAG at 21: changing priorities and decades of collaboration
Last week saw the 2022 European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) Conference, marking 21 years of EFRAG’s work. Two speeches reflecting on EFRAG’s past and future were particularly worth a look.
European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness gave an overview of EFRAG’s new role in sustainability reporting which has developed in the past few years. McGuiness highlighted the importance of corporate reporting that includes both sustainability and financial information – on equal footing, to underpin markets with companies that are both sustainable and profitable.
She also highlighted the need for interoperability between international and European sustainability reporting standards – noting that they are taking this seriously, with the creation of an upcoming interoperability mapping table between the two sets of requirements once the European and international climate reporting standards are finalised.
Elsewhere during the conference, Andreas Barckow, Chair of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), spoke about the IASB’s relationship with EFRAG over the years, and looked to the future of the IASB, highlighting their upcoming projects including a (welcome!) increased focus on digitalisation.
