New COSO guidance tackles sustainability reporting

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) created a framework for companies seeking to achieve effective internal control over sustainability reporting (ICSR).

COSO’s guidance, published Thursday, expands on a 2017 report that examined how to improve confidence in sustainability performance data. At the time of the 2017 report, few companies had undertaken any effort to understand sustainability data, COSO said, never mind implementing controls and governance processes over the collection, review, and reporting of sustainability information.

Since 2017, there has been a “sea change” in corporate attitudes toward sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, the guidance said, leading COSO to create a framework for firms to design and implement ICSR for sustainable business information.