Pitopito Kōrero

Getting to grips with GHG assurance 

Following issuance of an assurance standard for GHG emissions disclosures (NZ SAE1) in August last year, climate reporting entities in New Zealand will now be gearing up to have their Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emission disclosures within their climate statements assured for accounting periods ending on or after 27 October 2024.  
Building on the guidance we have published to date, we are delivering an awareness and engagement programme that aims to:

• Promote consistent understanding of the new XRB assurance standard developed for this new regime
• Assist preparers to understand the assurance requirements and get ready for assurance and,
• Aid users to better understand the assurance reports

This work will commence with a Sandbox Session for assurance practitionersin Auckland on 8 August, or to register interest in attending upcoming events please email assurance@xrb.govt.nz.

Understanding climate statements - guides published 

Climate Reporting Entities are now starting to publish their Climate Statements so we have teamed up with the FMA to jointly produce a set of guides to help people understand the Climate-related Disclosures (CRD) regime and the information being provided in climate statements.  The “What You Need to Know” guide provides an overview of the CRD regime and the “Navigating Climate Statements” guide is a more detailed explanation of the information disclosed in climate statements.

Climate standards evaluation - Interim report published 

As part of our research into assessing the effectiveness of the Aotearoa New Zealand Climate-Related Disclosure Framework, we have published an Interim Report by the University of Otago.
The report describes the research methodology and provides baseline data and preliminary findings from the initial stage of the research. It includes a literature review and insights on voluntary climate-related reporting in New Zealand to date.  
The final report will be published in late 2025 and will examine published Climate Statements to assess the effectiveness of the Aotearoa New Zealand Climate-related Disclosure Framework in meeting its purpose. 

Tier 2 For-profit Update - IFRS 19

In New Zealand, Tier 2 for-profit entities report using the reduced disclosure regime (RDR). Following the IASB’s issuance of IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures in May this year, we have considered possible approaches that could be taken to this voluntary standard, in light of the existing RDR.
Our decision landed on not adopting IFRS 19, but we will consider disclosure requirements in IFRS 19 as part of our decision-making on future RDR concessions. For further information read our IFRS 19 Update.  

In brief

Consultations

• Review of Service Performance Information. Closes 17 July

• Power Purchase Agreements. Closes 18 July 2024

• 2024 Omnibus Amendments to PBE Standards. Closes 15 August 

Events

• GHG Assurance practitioner sandbox session (Auckland) 8 August
  

Recently published

• Annual Letter of Expectation from the Hon Andrew Bayley, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs

• The XRB's Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE) for the 2024/25 financial year