The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with a climate data and analytics software company for the development of the web-based SEC Sustainability Reporting (SuRe) Framework Application.
The customized web application will make the submission of sustainability reports easier for a publicly listed company (PLC).
It will streamline the data collection, verification, management and analysis of sustainability data, improving the SEC’s monitoring capabilities on sustainability reporting compliance of PLCs.
Under the MOA, Komunidad Global Services & Operations Philippines Inc. will provide the SEC with rights and licenses to use the SEC SuRe Framework Application.
“A data sharing agreement will likewise be executed to determine the scope and flow of data, as well as guarantee security protocols,” the SEC said in a statement.
“Komunidad’s contribution in providing innovative solutions via online submission platform is in line with the SEC’s initiative to streamline the data capture and management of sustainability reports and simplify the process in the submission of the SuRe Form,” also said Karlo Bello, SEC commissioner.
According to the SEC, the revised guidelines seek to further enhance the quality of sustainability reporting and ensure consistency of non-financial information submitted by PLCs.
The revised guidelines will take into consideration global sustainability standards such as International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) S1 (general requirements for disclosure of sustainability-related financial information) and IFRS S2 (climate-related disclosures), among others.
“These standards serve as an effective and proportionate global framework of investor-focused disclosures on sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities,” the SEC said.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions has endorsed the standards earlier this year, calling on its members to consider ways of adopting and applying them within the context of jurisdictional arrangements.
“This is a significant step towards consistent, comparable and reliable sustainability information, ending the so-called alphabet soup of voluntary adoption of various standards,” said Emilio Aquino, SEC chairman.
“The adoption of the IFRS S1 and S2 standards will complement the Commission’s adoption of frameworks under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)–International Standards of Accounting and Reporting Guidance on Core Indicators,” he added.
The SEC has noted a steady increase in the submission of sustainability reports by PLCs since it issued the sustainability reporting guidelines in 2019.
The compliance rate stood at 95 percent in 2021, compared to 96 percent and 93 percent in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
“Only around 22 percent of PLCs disclosed their sustainability reports to the SEC prior to the release of the guidelines in 2017,” the commission said.
Earlier this year, the SEC also adopted the Asean Sustainable and Responsible Fund Standards (SRFS), which will allow both local and Asean-member investment companies and collective investment scheme operators to offer sustainable and responsible funds locally and across the region.
The SEC said it is working on revisions to the SuRe Form which will provide the general metrics for disclosure that are applicable to PLCs as it will pioneer industry or sector-specific materiality.
