The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) highlights growing unease over the quality and selection process of sustainability assurance providers in the UK.
- Diversification among providers poses challenges in maintaining assurance consistency.
- Companies struggle to gauge the credibility and effectiveness of potential providers when appointing new ones.
- The FRC’s report marks a significant call for standardisation within the industry.
- There is a pressing need for clearer evaluation criteria to ensure high-quality sustainability assurances.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has recently brought to light a concerning issue within the realm of sustainability assurance services in the UK. The organisation has pointed out that there is a considerable variety of providers, yet this diversity is accompanied by challenges in ensuring consistent quality of assurance.
As companies in the UK increasingly seek to adopt sustainability reporting, the demand for reliable assurance providers has surged. However, the FRC notes that businesses face significant difficulties in determining the suitability and expected quality of these providers, particularly when selecting new ones. This situation complicates efforts to establish trust and reliability in sustainability practices.
The findings from the FRC underscore a critical need for industry-wide standardisation. Without uniform benchmarks and guidelines, the quality of sustainability assurance can vary widely, potentially undermining efforts to promote transparency and accountability in business practices.
Moreover, the FRC’s report highlights a pressing issue: the absence of clear evaluation criteria. Companies frequently struggle to identify which providers can deliver credible and effective assurances. This lack of clarity can result in businesses making ill-informed decisions, thereby affecting the credibility of their sustainability efforts.
The FRC’s findings highlight an urgent need to develop robust standards and evaluation criteria to ensure the credibility of sustainability assurance in the UK.
