Championing the ISSB’s climate global baseline at COP28: “Climate risks are increasingly having a real effect on companies and capital. Therefore - in response to calls for climate action at COP28 - we support the establishment of market infrastructure to enable consistent, comparable climate-related disclosures at a global level. We are committed to advancing the adoption and use of the ISSB’s Climate Standard as the climate global baseline.”

IFAC, as the global voice of the accountancy profession, encourages all member organizations to endorse this Declaration. IFAC’s endorsement of the Declaration is a call for improved and better-coordinated actions by the accountancy profession to help drive an enhanced global corporate reporting system.

In 2022, IFAC adopted the IMPACT approach, which was derived directly from IFAC’s Vision and Purpose, comprising three IMPACTs that are supported by our Strategic Objectives:

  • Serving as the voice of the profession
  • Working with member organizations and other stakeholders to ensure the profession is “future ready”, and,
  • Supporting, as we have since 2003, international standard-setting processes and standard-setting boards.

At a higher level, the IMPACT approach connects our work to purpose, and perhaps more importantly, to the profession’s ability to help drive positive change in our world, wherever accountants are at work. Investors and other stakeholders now consider climate change to be a material issue that can have financial consequences for most companies. IFAC’s 180 member organizations and their 3.5 million professional accountant members play a key role in driving climate change mitigation, adaptation, and reporting. IFAC continues to advocate and support the profession’s role in enabling climate action by providing transparency and insights on the financial impacts of climate change.

At COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the ISSB shared details of the ISSB’s new partnership framework, with more than 20 partner organizations including IFAC, to support preparers, investors and other capital market stakeholders as they prepare to use IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. IFAC is joined by other members organizations who represent the accountancy profession such as the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CAANZ), CPA Canada, and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).

Now, one year later, the ISSB has unveiled its COP28 Climate Declaration, which marks a significant step in prioritizing the climate agenda and bringing the benefits of effective disclosure to all. The comprehensive Declaration encompasses various critical areas, including fostering cross-sector collaboration, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing the allocation of climate financing.

Professional Accountancy Organization (PAOs) can demonstrate their support by joining IFAC in being added to the list of organizations supporting the COP28 Climate Declaration. If you have the authority to do so on behalf of your organization, please fill out this short form: https://forms.office.com/e/SZcwksce52
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Kevin Dancey

Former Chief Executive Officer, IFAC

Kevin Dancey, CM, FCPA, FCA is IFAC’s former Chief Executive Officer (2019-2023).

Mr. Dancey has a long history of leadership in the accountancy profession as well as in public service. As Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants President and CEO, Mr. Dancey led the Canadian accountancy profession’s unification, becoming CPA Canada’s first President and CEO after the merger. His experience also includes serving as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy, at Finance Canada (1993-1995); on the Canadian Auditor General Panel of Senior Advisors (2006-2015); and as an Auditing and Assurance Standards Oversight Committee member (2017-2018) and CCAF-FCVI Inc. board member (2008-2013).

Mr. Dancey’s international accountancy experience includes the Public Interest Oversight Board (2017-2018), the IFAC board (2006-2012) and the Global Accounting Alliance (2006-2016), where he was also Chair from 2008 to 2012.

Prior to joining the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Mr. Dancey was PwC’s Canadian Senior Partner and CEO and was a PwC Global Leadership Team member from 2001-2005. He was national tax practice leader for Coopers & Lybrand before the merger with Price Waterhouse.

Mr. Dancey previously chaired Finance Canada’s Departmental Audit Committee (ended on December 31, 2022) and was a member of the Advisory Board of the CPA Canada Martin Family Initiative, which mentors Canadian indigenous youth, having previously served as the National Coordinator for the program. He is also a Senior Fellow at the CD Howe Institute, a Canadian research institute dedicated to raising living standards through economically sound public policies.

Mr. Dancey is a Fellow at CPA Ontario, where he first qualified, and a member of CPA Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hon.) in Mathematics & Economics from McMaster University (Canada) and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Dancey is a member of the Order of Canada.

David Madon

Director, Sustainability, Policy & Regulatory Affairs

Mr. Madon joined IFAC in 2019, where he is Director - Sustainability, Policy & Regulatory Affairs.  He is responsible for developing and coordinating IFAC’s sustainability policy and advocacy activities in addition to conducting research, policy development, and engagement with respect to a range of topics and stakeholders, including industry organizations, regulators, public authorities, and institutional investors.  Mr. Madon's areas of expertise include sustainability/ESG, corporate reporting, financial audit quality/reform, sustainability assurance, ethics, investor protection, financial market regulation, and credit markets.  Most recently, he has focused on the development of a global reporting system (including assurance) for sustainability/ESG information.  Prior to IFAC, Mr. Madon represented the IFRS Foundation in the U.S. for nearly a decade, during which he focused on building institutional investor relationships, funding-raising, and the adoption of IFRS Standards by U.S. publicly traded companies. Prior to his public policy work, Mr. Madon spent twenty-five years in financial services, most recently as a Managing Director at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. He holds a Masters in Public Administration-MC from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a BS in Management-Accounting from Purdue University Northwest.