The Get It Fair programme adopts the IAASB (International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board) ISSA (International Standard for Sustainability Assurance) 5000 in its regulation under license agreement signed with IFAC (International Federation of Accountants).
The IAASB ISSA 5000 standard is incorporated into the Get It Fair program regulations and its are additional to those of ISO/IEC 17029.
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 IAASB ISSA 5000. It applied to both ESG Rating and sustainability reporting assurance.
The accreditation bodies will verify if and how a CAB applies and complies with the IAASB ISSA 5000.
Get It Fair is the first programme worldwide to implement the strategic partnership announced between the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the IAASB 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 standard IAASB ISSA 5000 has to be used when accrediting and authorizing conformity assessment bodies to carry out assurance work on corporate sustainability disclosures.
The IAASB-IAF partnership means that all practitioners (professional audit firms and accredited bodies) will refer to the same international standards as regards sustainability information assurance, to improve the credibility of ESG ratings and sustainability reporting assurance.
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is an independent global standard-setting board that serves the public interest by setting high-quality, standards for auditing, quality management, review other standards and related services. These standards are used in more than 130 jurisdictions to enhance the quality and uniformity of audit and assurance engagements and strengthening public confidence in markets and economies.
Along with the International Ethics Standard Board for Accounting, the IAASB is part of the International Foundation for Ethics and Audit. The Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB) oversees IESBA and IAASB activities and the public interest responsiveness of the standards.
The ISSA 5000 applies to all assurance engagements on sustainability information. It applies to all types of sustainability information, regardless of how that infomation is presented (ESG rating or sustainability reporting).
The ISSA 5000 deals with both reasonable and limited assurance engagements. Unless otherwise stated, each requirement of the ISSA 5000 applies to both reasonable and limited assurance engagements.
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 IAASB ISSA 5000, 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 recognized and accepted in over 130 jurisdictions around the world and complied with by audit firms and statutory auditors.
A huge step forward in ensuring the credibility of Get It Fair, the ESG passport.
Copyright statement
The Get It Fair programme is based on ISSA 5000 of the IAASB, published by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in November 2024 and is used with permission of IFAC.
ISSA 5000 © November 2024 by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC).
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