Malaysia gives companies an extra year before emissions assurance
Malaysia has pushed back mandatory assurance of Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosures by a year.
The Advisory Committee on Sustainability Reporting (ACSR), chaired by the Securities Commission Malaysia, says Group 1 entities now have until reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2028, while groups 2 and 3 will wait unto 2029 and 2030 respectively.
The decision comes after the first 91 listed issuers reporting under the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards were reviewed by the Minority Shareholders Watch Group and Climate Governance Malaysia, with the results showing that their disclosures still need work. The extra year is for improving processes, controls and data quality.
Malaysia is also narrowing its choice of standards. Independent assurance must now follow the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, and ISAE 3000 (Revised) and ISO standards are dropped from the recommended list. A Sustainability Assurance Guide is in the pipeline to better support preparers in making successful, high quality disclosures.
As seen above, the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance’s report on interoperability warns against bringing in assurance before reporting practice has become routine. Assurance, after all, is only as good as the data it checks.
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