Context
In May, G7 leaders agreed to take concrete steps to coordinate its approach to economic resilience and economic security, based on diversifying and deepening partnerships and de-risking. They also noted the importance of sustainability reporting and disclosure as key features of a policy response to growing sustainability-related risks.
In their communique, the Leaders wrote, “[w]e underline our commitment to consistent, comparable and reliable disclosure of information on sustainability including climate. We support the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) finalizing the standards for general reporting on sustainability and for climate-related disclosures and working toward achieving globally interoperable sustainability disclosure frameworks.”
Support for globally consistent and comparable sustainability information from the highest levels of government follows key actions taken in recent years to develop sustainability disclosure rules and standards that serve the needs of investors and other stakeholders. Most notably, these efforts include the launch of the ISSB, the release of the European Commission’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and a climate disclosure proposal by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Each of these efforts could have direct or indirect impacts on Japanese companies including those (i) listed on US exchanges, (ii) those with operations in Europe and (iii) as the ISSB standards are adopted by jurisdictions across the globe. In Japan, meanwhile, regulatory authorities are taking a multi-stage approach toward mandating sustainability disclosures for Japanese-listed companies. These efforts will impact nearly 4,000 public companies in Japan, including foreign companies listed in Japan.