International Sustainability Standards Board opens Beijing office to bolster Asia capacity ahead of global standards launch
- The office will execute the ISSB’s strategy for emerging economies and act as a hub for stakeholder engagement in Asia among other activities, IFRS Foundation said
- The Beijing office, which will be run by Zhang Zhengwei, will add to the IFRS’ presence in London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Montreal and San Francisco
The office will execute the ISSB’s strategy for emerging economies, act as a hub for stakeholder engagement in Asia, and undertake capacity-building activities for emerging economies and small and medium-enterprises, international accounting standards setter IFRS said.
The Beijing office is important to achieving the ISSB’s global mission, said Erkki Liikanen, chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees.
“China, as the world’s second-largest economy and a major component in global supply chains, is an important jurisdiction in enabling the ISSB’s delivery of a global baseline of sustainability disclosures to meet the information needs of investors,” he said in a statement on Monday.
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The office will host the first meeting of the ISSB in China on November 13. Shortly after that meeting, on November 17, the IFRS Foundation will also work with local partners to co-host its first sustainability-focused conference in China.
The ISSB was established by the IFRS Foundation during the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021. It was formed by merging various international standards bodies including The Climate Disclosure Standards Board and the Value Reporting Foundation.