International Sustainability Standards Board (‘ISSB’) Could Help Unify Fragmented Sustainability Standards

Fitch notes the proposed International Sustainability Standards Board (‘ISSB’) could facilitate consistency across sustainability disclosure framework and accelerate adoption of sustainability reporting across sectors. While the ISSB has support from governments, regulators and central banks, technical work to reconcile differing standards across jurisdictions is expected to be addressed through standard-setting in 2022. ISSB is expected to be launched at November’s COP26 Summit.

ISSB could lead to more sustainability-linked issuances, including Green RMBS and Green Covered Bonds, to the extent data availability, transparency and comparability enables greater supply of sustainable real estate-backed assets eligible and available for pools.