Deloitte partner urges Ghanaian firms to adopt global sustainability reporting standards
Dr Kwabena Situ, Assurance Partner at Deloitte, has urged companies to embrace the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework, stressing that no business, regardless of size or resources, has an excuse to delay adoption.
Speaking at a webinar organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG) on the theme “Taking Advantage of the Proportionality Mechanism within Sustainability Reporting under IFRS S1 and IFRS S2”, Dr Situ highlighted the importance of aligning with the new global standards.
The ISSB, created under the IFRS Foundation in 2021 and 2022, has developed IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, the world’s first comprehensive sustainability-related financial reporting standards.
They are designed to provide a global baseline for sustainability reporting, ensuring investors receive consistent, comparable and reliable disclosures.
According to Dr Situ, the proportionality mechanism embedded in the standards addresses three of the biggest barriers to adoption: limited resources, inadequate data and shortages of specialist expertise.
“Companies are not expected to have perfect data or unlimited expertise from the beginning. Rather, they are encouraged to use reasonable and supportable information available at the reporting date, without undue cost or effort, and then gradually build up and improve their disclosures over time,” he explained.
Dr Situ emphasised that the proportionality mechanism does not create new disclosure requirements or exemptions but makes existing requirements more practical and achievable in real business conditions.
This, he said, makes the ISSB standards scalable and inclusive, enabling not only large multinational corporations but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across regions and sectors to comply.
Dr Situ further noted that the standards have been designed to align with familiar accounting concepts such as materiality, while also being interoperable with other reporting frameworks, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
“These measures are all intended to smoothen the adoption journey, making sustainability reporting more accessible for businesses everywhere,” he added.
