ISSB at COP27: Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria to adopt IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards

The Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria has announced at COP27 that they will move to adopt the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards in Nigeria when they are issued in 2023.

Commenting, Emmanuel Faber, Chair of the ISSB, said:

Earlier this year, African Finance Ministers announced their support for the work of the ISSB, citing that early adoption by African jurisdictions and companies has the potential to attract more investment and to boost private sector development in Africa. I am delighted that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria has formalised this support through its decision to adopt the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, which will be facilitated via IOSCO ahead of its review of the ISSB’s finalised standards for potential IOSCO endorsement. The announcement by Nigeria is yet a further signal of the momentum behind the ISSB’s objective to deliver a common language for sustainability-related disclosures worldwide.

The announcement comes as ISSB members are at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh meeting with partners to discuss working together to provide implementation and capacity-building support in emerging markets, thereby bringing the benefits of effective disclosure to all. The Nigerian Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning is a founding partner of the IFRS Foundation’s Partnership Framework for capacity building in order to achieve effective implementation of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.

Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, ISSB Member, said:

As the largest economy in Africa, it is encouraging to see Nigeria being a leader in the implementation of the global baseline of sustainability-related disclosures. This decision signals the truly global nature of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and underscores the ISSB's commitment, across all markets, to ensuring corporate entities at all stages of development, size and sophistication can apply the standards, which have the potential to unlock capital flows.

Zainab S Ahmed, Nigerian Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, said:

The IFRS Foundation, through the ISSB, has recognised and responded to the strong international demand for a global baseline of sustainability-related disclosures for the capital markets, which we believe has the potential to attract investment and boost private sector development. But developing standards is just one step in the journey to ensuring capital markets have access to robust sustainability-related information. We look forward to working with the ISSB and partners to deliver strong advisory and capacity-building support necessary to bring the implementation of this global baseline to life.