SLGP7118

Given the importance of standards and guidelines in supporting organizations to adhere to transparency, accountability and disclosure expectations, this course will provide an exploration of the development of standards, guidelines and frameworks. By exploring the frameworks that have developed in direct response to increased demand for organizational accountability, students will learn about those adopted by organizations that in turn have helped to drive the sustainability agenda. Standards, guidelines and frameworks provide a formula or “way of doing things” that describe or promote continuous learning for best practices and provide a point of reference from which to measure improvements and continuous learning.  For example professional standards provide a practical and ethical framework for decision-making by instilling a sense of responsibility and accountability as well as increasing our knowledge base through experience, continuing professional development. The fast development of these frameworks have also increased pressure on organization and we see both pros and cons, and thereby Greenwashing will be discussed. Since the demand for an increased demonstration of responsibility by organizations means improvement in performance against environmental, social and governance measures, this course will explore the growth in the disclosure guidelines and frameworks. Discussions will include the most current changes being driven by the ISSB, SAB, TCFD and TNFD, GRI, along with changes occurring in various markets e.g., EU corporate sustainability reporting directive, EU taxonomy regulation, US securities and exchange Commission Climate Disclosure Rule, Canadian government mandatory TCFD-aligned reporting, Japan financial Services Agency mandatory TCFD reporting and others.

Assessment: 100% coursework

Centre for Civil Society and Governance, The University of Hong Kong, is a member of the ISSB Training Partner Programme and an authorised provider of the ISSB Disclosure Training. As an ISSB Training Partner, CCSG delivers the official programme curriculum developed by the IFRS Foundation, the authors of the ISSB Standards, through trainers who have been assessed and certified by IFRS to deliver the programme.

Disclaimer: The ISSB Disclosure Training curriculum is developed and owned by the IFRS Foundation. Where CCSG has developed supplementary or jurisdiction-specific content alongside the official curriculum, that content has not been approved or endorsed by the IFRS Foundation and does not necessarily reflect its views.