Five of Asean’s biggest economies are steering their sustainability reporting rules toward a common global standard, according to ACCA’s report on the state of play across the region. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, together around 85 per cent of Asean’s GDP, have all signalled alignment with the ISSB’s international disclosure standards, a shift the report frames as significant given Asean is projected to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030 while facing outsized climate exposure: as much as 35 per cent of the region’s GDP is at risk from climate and nature-related impacts.
The report situates this regional progress within faster global momentum. As of late 2024, around 30 jurisdictions representing 57 per cent of global GDP and more than 40 per cent of global market capitalisation had adopted or were moving to adopt ISSB standards. Yet actual reporting quality still lags: globally, only 2-3 per cent of companies report against all 11 recommendations under the older TCFD framework, underscoring how far implementation still has to go even where policy intent exists.
The report’s recommendations centre on Asean advocating for a single global standard rather than a fragmented patchwork, using ISSB as the baseline and adding local requirements only through a “building blocks” approach, and keeping rules proportionate so smaller businesses aren’t disproportionately burdened. It also calls for Asean to push for stronger representation on the ISSB’s board and for the EU to grant transition relief from its own overlapping reporting regime (ESRS) until a single global standard is recognised, alongside sustained investment in training and shared regional data infrastructure to support implementation.
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