The chair of the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board wants to ensure institutional investors are well represented at the discussion table when shaping voluntary climate disclosure metrics for Canadian businesses.
“Since I joined — before we even started an outreach strategy — many institutional investors reached out and wanted to meet with me and understand what my priorities were and what I saw in the face of [ongoing] headwinds,” says Wendy Berman.
The CSSB’s two initial voluntary disclosure rulings — known as CSDS 1 and CSDS 2 — came into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Berman, who was appointed chair in May, expects to see broad adoption of the standards, which were modelled after the global baseline from the International Sustainability Standards Board.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions aligned with the CSSB standards, but there hasn’t been much movement since. That’s primarily because of the Canadian Securities Administrators decision to pause development of a mandatory climate-related disclosure rule for Canadian issuers.
“There’s a problem if Canadian companies don’t continue to build capacity, . . . [and put] the systems in place to be able to report [and] start thinking about and analyzing the impact of sustainability issues on their business.”
Those risks can be categorized by challenges directly tied to the effects of climate change as well as the hurdles businesses may face in the transition to a low-carbon economy, she says.
Read: CSSB releases financial reporting, climate disclosure guidelines
Following the CSA’s decision, interest in the CSSB spiked with the regulator pointing directly to the voluntary sustainability disclosures as effective tools for those interested.
“We set the standard that we thought was fit for purpose and the best for Canadian companies and we’ll continue to wave that flag. We’ll [also] continue to dialogue with regulators on their hurdles to lifting the pause [on development of a disclosure rule].”
Read: My Take: Actionable sustainability data needs collaborative approach
In 2021, she noticed the hand-wringing around climate disclosures and how companies pointed to it being a burdensome experience, but she always knew there was a bigger opportunity in Canada. “Change hurts and change is difficult but if we see the window of opportunity and embrace it, then the rest falls in place.”
By increasing transparency around sustainability, confidence in the country’s conditions can also grow, attracting new capital and enhancing the country’s economy, she says.
Moving forward, the organization is creating two external advisory committees of the board as a conduit for information-sharing across industries and sectors. Berman also wants to recruit academic representatives, with outreach playing a role in the CSSB’s overall engagement campaign.
“There is so much happening in the sustainability space that we as the board and our staff can’t be experts across all industries. But we can learn from institutional investors that are experts in . . . certain industrial sectors.”
Read: Climate action group advising Canadian companies on transition plans