Over the course of the past year, the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) has been engaging with the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB), learning from one another and discussing pending environment, social and governance (ESG) disclosure requirements in Canada. CRSB’s diverse membership across the beef value chain, along with its National Beef Sustainability Assessment – a scientific study that benchmarks all of Canadian beef production, has the beef sector in an advantageous position as the ESG reporting situation unfolds.
On Monday, June 26, 2023, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released its first two standards – IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures. The purpose of the standards is to translate sustainability information into accounting language and provide a baseline structure for publicly traded companies to report on their ESG performance.
The ISSB has included value chain disclosures (i.e., Scope 3 greenhouse gases (GHGs)) as described in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard (2011); however, the ISSB has provided transition relief allowing companies to submit their first annual reporting period without disclosing their Scope 3 GHGs. This is the area of concern for the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) and CRSB. Cattle production is a Scope 3 emission for retail, food service and cattle processing companies as a purchased input or upstream input. CRSB’s National Beef Sustainability Assessment measures the Canadian beef cattle production industry’s collective greenhouse gas output. Work is ongoing to see how that report can satisfy these requirements.
Following the release of these standards the CSSB issued a media release confirming;
“The CSSB will partner with the ISSB by supporting the uptake of ISSB standards in Canada, highlighting key issues for the Canadian context, and facilitating interoperability between ISSB standards and any forthcoming CSSB standards. Canadian consultation efforts are currently underway on the ISSB’s project to set its agenda priorities for the next two years and proposed amendments to Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards.”
The CRSB and CCA will continue to build relationships and work collaboratively on this topic. This includes discussions with regulators, publicly traded value chain partners and others. Producers can stay tuned as CCA and CRSB share opportunities for beef farmers and ranchers to provide input on the work. Keep an eye out for further updates.
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