• ICAEW becomes an official IFRS Foundation Training Partner, enabling global delivery of ISSB training materials.
• The partnerships target consistent, high-quality sustainability reporting across markets, investors and stock exchanges.
• ISSB Standards are already adopted or used across 40 jurisdictions, with UK rule clarity expected later in 2026.

Accountants Move Closer to the Centre of Climate Reporting

ICAEW has announced strategic partnerships with the IFRS Foundation and the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative to support global implementation of sustainability reporting standards.

The announcement, made during London Climate Action Week, places the accountancy profession deeper into the infrastructure of climate and ESG disclosure. It also reflects a wider shift in capital markets. Sustainability data is no longer treated as a side report. Investors, regulators and boards increasingly view it as core financial information.

Under its partnership with the IFRS Foundation, ICAEW has been recognised as an official Training Partner in the International Sustainability Standards Board Training Partner Programme. The status allows ICAEW to deliver IFRS Foundation-developed training materials worldwide.

Those materials have gone through the Foundation’s due process. The programme is designed to give professionals globally consistent training, while allowing local market context where needed.

ISSB Standards Gain Regulatory Weight

The IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards aim to improve reporting on sustainability-related financial risks and opportunities. For investors, the goal is clearer, comparable data for capital allocation.

ICAEW said its role as an approved Training Partner supports the implementation of ISSB Standards. These standards have been adopted or used across 40 jurisdictions. The UK government has also endorsed them for voluntary use through the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards.

In the UK, further clarity is expected from the Financial Conduct Authority in the second half of 2026. The regulator is expected to update listing rules to reflect UK SRS, which are closely aligned with ISSB Standards.

Alan Vallance, ICAEW Chief Executive, said: “Announcing these strategic partnerships during London Climate Action Week reflects ICAEW’s commitment to our members, and the accountancy profession globally, in ensuring sustainability-related financial information serves its strategic purpose: supporting better decision-making, more effective capital allocation, and stronger, more resilient businesses.”

“Through our partnerships with the United Nation’s Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative and the IFRS Foundation, we are supporting the high-quality, consistent, and proportionate implementation of global sustainability standards in the public interest. This helps to reinforce the relevance of the profession, strengthen trust in corporate reporting, and build resilient competitive economies.”

Stock Exchanges Become Training Partners

ICAEW has also agreed to a strategic partnership with the UN SSE initiative. The initial focus will be sustainability reporting capacity building through global stock exchanges.

The partnership will tailor training to the accountancy profession. That matters because exchanges remain key channels between listed companies, investors and regulators. They also shape market expectations on disclosure quality.

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Anthony Miller, Chief Coordinator, UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative said: “We are pleased to partner with ICAEW to create an accountancy focused training programme as part of the SSE Academy’s work to distribute free, high-quality, expert-led, CPD-verified training globally.”

“The accountancy profession is an enabler of, and helps to deliver, high quality corporate information to the capital markets, and this strategic partnership demonstrates the important role that organisations like ICAEW can play in helping to build capacity of their members and the accountancy profession more broadly, at a global scale.”

Dana Day, ICAEW Chief Learning Officer, said: “Partnerships – like these with IFRS Foundation and the UN SSE – ensure that ICAEW learning offers relevant and timely expertise to our members and global community. This means our professionals continue to deliver value to their clients and organisation in a world of evolving regulations, market expectations and an expanding set of financially material factors, such as extreme weather events.”

Why Boards and Investors Should Watch

For C-suite leaders, the message is direct. Sustainability reporting is moving closer to audited financial discipline. Companies will need stronger internal controls, clearer governance and better links between ESG data and business risk.

The standards also sharpen the finance case. Climate impacts, resource access, infrastructure resilience and supply chain disruption can affect cash flow and enterprise value. Boards that treat disclosure as a compliance task may miss strategic risk.

For investors, more consistent training across jurisdictions could improve trust in sustainability-related information. That is critical as capital markets compare companies across regions, sectors and regulatory regimes.

Sue Lloyd, ISSB Vice-Chair said: “The IFRS Foundation is committed to supporting the understanding and high-quality application of ISSB Standards. The ISSB Training Partner Programme, which will deliver the ISSB Disclosure Training course, is central to delivering on that commitment.”

The ICAEW partnerships add professional training capacity to a global reporting system still being built. For emerging and developed markets alike, the test will be execution. Standards only support better capital allocation when companies can apply them consistently, and when investors can trust the information they receive.