Sustainability:
IFAC Study on Sustainability Reporting and Auditing of the world's largest Companies

On 12 May 2025, the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), together with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), published the results of the fifth study on sustainability reporting and auditing of the 1,400 largest global companies from 22 countries. The study covers the years 2019 to 2023.

One key finding is that companies are increasingly seeking assurance services regarding their sustainability information (73%, previous year: 69%). Apart from this significant development in corporate practice, other key indicators remained relatively unchanged between 2019 and 2023.

Fragmentation of Standards continues

The fragmentation of standards used for both reporting and auditing continues. Over 90% of companies state that they use multiple standards and frameworks. There are also considerable differences between the standards used by auditors and those used by other service organisations when confirming performance.

With regard to the situation in Germany, the study found that 100% of the companies included reported on ESG matters in 2023. Where assurance services were obtained, this was generally performed by an auditing firm in accordance with ISAE 3000 (Revised), as is the case in other major European countries.