Regulations on Sustainability

The Sustainability Rules contain independence and ethics standards for sustainability assurance and sustainability reporting. After the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) had already adopted the ISSA 5000 standard for the assurance of sustainability information on September 20, 2024 (“Neu auf WPK.de” from September 25, 2024 (in German)), the IESBA adopted the corresponding professional regulations at its meeting on December 5, 2024 (“New on WPK.de” from December 9, 2024). The Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) already subjected ISSA 5000 to the necessary review (certification) in November 2024 and the present professional regulations (IESSA) in January 2025, with a positive outcome in each case.

The IESSA is intended to promote the quality of and trust in sustainability reporting and its audit. To this end, critical risks to the integrity, quality and effectiveness of sustainability reporting and assurance are addressed, such as bias, conflicts of interest, pressure to act unethically, fraud including greenwashing, non-compliance with laws and regulations and threats to auditor independence.

Like ISSA 5000, the IESSA framework is designed to be principles-based and profession agnostic, i.e. the standards should be applicable not only to the profession but also to other service providers. The IESSA also explicitly cover the Group Audit context.

Regulations on Experts

The rules on experts set out a professional framework to assist professionals in assessing whether an external expert has the necessary competence, skills and objectivity to enable their work to be used for the intended purposes.

Entry into Force

The regulations on Experts and Sustainability will generally enter into force on December 15, 2026. Notwithstanding this, the provisions of Sections 5405 and 5406 only come into force for sustainability assurance engagements that begin on or after July 1, 2028, provided that assurance work is performed at a value chain component (“when assurance work is performed at a value chain component”). Earlier application is permitted and recommended by the IESBA. For details, please refer to the relevant regulations (Effective Date).