Net Positive Business — Making Business Sense of the AFRS and IFRS Sustainability Regulation Unfolding Across the World

Episode 1 - A Welcome Note

The new Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) have been a long time coming and are now in effect across Australia as at 1 January 2025 — part of a coordinated global response to an environmental crisis reaching a critical point. In Australia, this marks the most significant change to financial reporting since the adoption of IFRS in 2005. And while the first wave of obligations targets larger entities, the impact will filter rapidly through the economy in the next few years — with estimates suggesting 80–90% of the economy will be touched by these new disclosure requirements.

This is something Australia has never seen before. Globally, too, it’s a fresh chapter — and for many organisations, especially those not already reporting voluntarily, it’s a steep learning curve. The standards are anchored in four key pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. They require organisations to identify their climate and sustainability-related risks and opportunities, connect them to financial outcomes, and assess their implications over short, medium, and long-term horizons.

That’s no easy task. Forward-looking climate statements involve uncertainty, and aligning them with balance sheets demands cross-disciplinary thinking. Finance, risk, strategy, sustainability, and legal teams will need to share information in new ways, breaking down silos. Systems, processes, and data collection will need upgrading to ensure credible, material disclosures. Internal conversations about what’s “reasonable” will become routine, and relationships with value-chain partners will be critical for understanding shared risks and opportunities.

But this isn’t just about compliance. The ASRS and their global counterparts, such as the IFRS Sustainability Standards, have the potential to reshape markets. They can drive the creation of products and services aligned with societal expectations, unlock new revenue streams, and enable smarter M&A strategies. Upskilling will be essential — finance and risk professionals need climate fluency, and sustainability professionals must now speak the language of financial performance.

At its heart, this transition is about resilience — for businesses, communities, and economies. This newsletter Net Positive Business will help you navigate this shift with clarity, context, and confidence, with weekly instalments turning complex regulation into strategic advantage. These standards aren’t just rules to follow; they’re an opportunity to make your business more competitive and help change the world for the better.

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