Get It Fair adopts the IESBA Code of Ethics
IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) has licensed the Get It Fair programme to adopt and incorporate the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (including International Independence Standards) (IESBA Code of Ethics) in its regulation.
All CABs (Conformity Assessment Body) accredited in compliance with ISO/IEC 17029 and the Get It Fair programme are required to implement, and comply with the IESBA Code of Ethics.
The accreditation bodies will verify if and how a CAB applies and complies with the IESBA Code of Ethics.
Get It Fair is the first programme worldwide to implement the strategic partnership announced between the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the IESBA with the purpose of advancing the use of a common framework of high standards of ethical conduct to underpin trust in the assurance of sustainability information.
The cornerstone of the partnership is the IAF’s stipulation to national accreditation bodies around the world that the IESBA’s proposed International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (IESSA) are to be used when accrediting and authorizing conformity assessment bodies to carry out assurance work on corporate sustainability disclosures.
The IESBA-IAF partnership means that all practitioners (professional audit firms and accredited bodies) will refer to the same international standards as regards ethics and independence, to prevent risks of unethical behavior in sustainability assurance, including from conflicts of interest, and improve the credibility of ESG ratings and conformity assessment of sustainability information and reporting.
About the IESBA and IESBA Code of Ethics
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants® (IESBA®) is an independent global standard-setting board with the mission to serve the public interest by setting ethics (including independence) standards as a cornerstone to ethical behavior in business and organizations, and to public trust in financial and non-financial information that is fundamental to the proper functioning and sustainability of organizations, financial markets and economies worldwide.
The IESBA Code of Ethics sets out fundamental principles of ethics for professional accountants, reflecting the profession’s recognition of its public interest responsibility.
The IESBA Code of Ethics also provides a conceptual framework to identify, evaluate and address threats to compliance with the IESBA Code of Ethic’s principles, and where applicable, to independence.
In January 2024 the IESBA released an Exposure Draft of proposed new International Ethics Standards for Sustainability Assurance (including International Independence Standards) (“IESSA”) and proposed revisions to the IESBA Code of Ethics relating to Sustainability Reporting.
The Exposure Draft contains proposed independence standards for use by all sustainability assurance practitioners regardless of their backgrounds, and specific ethics provisions relevant to sustainability reporting and assurance.
Benefits
Companies in the European Union and globally from this year will have to include new, mandatory disclosures on ESG and climate-related factors in their annual reports for 2024 and onwards.
These disclosures will need checking by external assurance providers as a safeguard against greenwashing and fraud.
Trust in such disclosures will be enhanced when they receive external assurance provided by assurance providers subject to globally accepted standards regarding ethical behaviour and independence.
The Get It Fair programme, by adopting the IESBA Code of ethics, will provide all interested parties with confidence that a conformity assessment body accredited according to ISO/IEC 17029 and the Get It Fair programme will offer an ESG Rating or the external assurance of the sustainability reporting under the same standards complied with by audit firms and statutory auditors and recognized and accepted in over 130 jurisdictions around the world.
A huge step forward in ensuring the credibility of Get It Fair, the ESG passport.
Copyright statement
“The Get It Fair programme adopts and incorporates the IESBA Code of Ethics, which is based on the Handbook of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, 2023 Edition, of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in September 2023 and is used with permission of IFAC.
Handbook of the International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants, 2023 Edition © September 2023 by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
Contact Permissions@ifac.org for permission to reproduce, store or transmit, or to make other similar uses of the IESBA Code of Ethics.”