Sustainability assurance delayed to 2028 after review finds disclosure quality needs improvement

MANDATORY reasonable assurance of Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions disclosures for Group 1 entities under Malaysia’s National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF) will be delayed by a year after a review of the first reporting cohort found further improvements in disclosure quality were needed.

The Advisory Committee on Sustainability Reporting (ACSR), chaired by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), said the requirement would now apply to annual reporting periods beginning on or after Jan 1, 2028, instead of 2027.

Mandatory assurance requirements for Group 2 and Group 3 entities will also be deferred by one year to 2029 and 2030 respectively.

The decision follows a review by the Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG) and Climate Governance Malaysia (CGM) of the first cohort of 91 Group 1 listed issuers reporting under the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.

The review found that further improvements were needed in the quality of sustainability disclosures, prompting the ACSR to provide preparers with an additional year to strengthen reporting processes, controls and data quality before mandatory assurance takes effect.

During the extension, listed issuers will continue to be required under the Main Market and ACE Market Listing Requirements to state whether their sustainability disclosures have been internally reviewed by internal auditors or independently assured by a sustainability assurance provider.

The ACSR said independent assurance must now be conducted in accordance with the designated recognised standard, the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements.

The International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000 (Revised) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards will no longer be recommended for independent assurance.

The ACSR will also issue a Sustainability Assurance Guide to support assurance providers and facilitate consistent application of the requirements.

The remaining proposals relating to the sustainability assurance framework will be communicated in due course. -  September 17, 2026