It may soon be easier for Singapore businesses, including public-listed companies, to identify and hire qualified sustainability reporting professionals.
With sustainability reporting compulsory for SGX-listed companies and gaining traction overall in Singapore, there is growing recognition of the need to recruit talent with the required expertise in the sustainability reporting space.
To support organisations in the hiring of such professionals, the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) has launched the ISCA Sustainability Reporting Professional (SRP) credential. Conferred upon individuals who have demonstrated competence in preparing sustainability reports aligned with Singapore’s regulatory and reporting expectations, the SRP is among the first professional body credentials in Singapore specifically designed to recognise tangible expertise in sustainability reporting practice according to ISCA.
"Sustainability reporting has shifted from a voluntary, narrative exercise to a regulated, decision-useful disclosure requirement,” says Melissa Wu, ISCA director of qualification and pathway development. “With frameworks such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards (IFRS S1 and S2) and Singapore’s climate reporting roadmap, organisations are now expected to produce disclosures that are structured and comparable across markets, data-driven and auditable, with increasing expectations of assurance and more closely integrated with financial performance and risk management.”
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information spells out the disclosure requirements that a business has to communicate to investors on sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect the company’s prospects. The information provided about sustainability-related risks and opportunities is based on the four content elements set out in the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. Additionally, industry-based information is required to be provided.
IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures sets out specific climate-related disclosure requirements for a company to disclose information about its climate-related risks and opportunities and builds on the requirements set out in IFRS S1 and fully integrates the TCFD recommendations.
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In Singapore, the stock exchange regulator, SGX RegCo, has mandated all listed companies to issue sustainability reports for FY2025 onwards, with all firms required to report climate-related disclosures based on IFRS S2 (except for Scope 3 GHG) for FY2030 onwards and obtain external limited assurance for FY2029 onwards. Constituents of the Straits Times Index are subjected to more stringent disclosure standards, being required to report Scope 3 for FY2026 onwards and obtain limited external assurance for Scope 1 and 2 from FY2027 onwards.
SGX says that issuing both financial and sustainability reports enable investors to better assess a firm’s financial prospects and quality of management. Without sustainability reporting capabilities, firms risk declining investor confidence.
For ISCA, the role of finance professionals now extends beyond traditional financial reporting to sustainability reporting as well. This includes applying and ensuring compliance with ISSB standards and linking environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to business performance.
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“As Singapore progresses towards greater assurance of sustainability disclosures, the accountancy profession is also strengthening capabilities in sustainability assurance, governance, and data controls to support evolving requirements,” says Wu.
According to the Green Skills Committee Report 2025 published by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and SkillsFuture Singapore, demand for sustainability reporting and assurance professionals could double from about 2,000 in 2023 to around 4,000 by 2030.
