The Asean Business Advisory Council ( Asean-BAC ) Malaysia, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants ( ACCA ) and their partners in the Asean Sustainability Reporting Advocacy Collaborative have agreed to a regional policy that, they say, “charts a unified path forward for sustainability reporting across Southeast Asia, grounded in international best practice and tailored to regional realities”.

The policy, launched in a statement at the Asean Conference hosted by the Singapore Business Federation, is the first output of this collaborative initiative between the ACCA, Asean-BAC Malaysia, the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council Malaysia. It is one of 12 business priorities being advanced by Asean-BAC Malaysia as part of Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship in 2025.

Building on a report by the ACCA, which will be released at the end of July, the policy statement offers recommendations on how to align sustainability reporting in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( Asean ) region with international standards while remaining responsive to local business and regulatory needs.

The statement calls for the adoption of the International Sustainability Standards Board ( ISSB ) standards as a global baseline, implemented through a building-blocks approach that enables jurisdictions to add local requirements without sacrificing global consistency.

It also advocates for transition relief to minimize the reporting burden from overlapping frameworks, such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, and emphasizes the importance of proportionality — ensuring that reporting frameworks remain practical and scalable for businesses of all sizes, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

As well, the statement outlines practical implementation pathways, including engagement with finance ministries, capital market regulators and international standard-setters; support for a unified platform for ESG [environmental, social and governance] data; and capacity-building through trusted regional partners, such as the ACCA.

“Today’s finance leaders are stewards of people, the planet and prosperity,” adds Pulkit Abrol, the ACCA’s director for Asia Pacific. “[The policy] statement offers a timely call for alignment around ISSB standards, grounded in proportionality and global relevance.”