Sustainability reporting in ASEAN has moved from aspiration to implementation faster than many expected.
A few years ago, the regional debate was whether the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework was the right reference point. That argument is largely settled, with five member states, accounting for around 85% of regional GDP, now committed to the standards. The question has now shifted to how quickly to adopt and with which national adaptations.
A two-speed outcome creates more than a presentational problem
The direction of travel is highly encouraging and was on display at the inaugural ASEAN-EU Sustainability Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, in May. The detail that lies beneath it is where the hard work – and the biggest opportunity – now sits.
Momentum gathers
The five states aligning their frameworks with ISSB (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) are making genuine progress on implementation. They are also, as it happens, ASEAN's five founding members. Singapore and Malaysia offer the clearest examples, with phased requirements, supervisory expectations and a growing base of preparers who have been through at least one reporting cycle. This is no longer theoretical: companies are producing disclosures, regulators are reviewing them, and assurance providers are building the necessary capabilities.
As ACCA’s Sustainability Reporting in ASEAN report, published last year, points out, progress is not the same as uniformity. The leading jurisdictions are converging on a common baseline, but they are doing so at different speeds and from different starting points, shaped by local market structure, regulatory capacity and the maturity of the professional skills infrastructure around reporting.
Comparability allows capital to move and companies to report just once
The most sensible path forward is to take a building-blocks approach to adopting ISSB standards, which encapsulate that global baseline. That lets a jurisdiction start with an internationally comparable core and add to it where local priorities require, without fragmenting into a patchwork of incompatible national standards. For a region as economically integrated as ASEAN, comparability is not a technical nicety but the characteristic that allows capital to move and companies operating across several markets to report once rather than many times.
Two-speed challenge
Progress at different speeds does raise a question for the region to address together: how to make sure the experience of the early adopters flows quickly to those still preparing so the gap can narrow rather than settle into a lasting two-speed divide. Much of the groundwork has already been laid for the six of ASEAN’s 11 members that have yet to commit to an ISSB-aligned path. The alternative, if that transfer of experience does not happen, is a two-speed ASEAN: some markets with mature, comparable, assured disclosure, and others where reporting stays voluntary or inconsistent. The first outcome is undoubtedly within reach.
The case for closing the gap quickly is worth stating plainly. A two-speed outcome creates more than a presentational problem. It raises costs for companies that operate across borders, complicates the picture for investors trying to allocate capital regionally, and weakens ASEAN’s collective voice in shaping how the global standards evolve.
The practitioner panel in Cebu brought this to life. Benjamin Villacorte, sustainability leader at SGV, EY’s member firm in the Philippines, and chair of the Philippine Sustainability Reporting Committee, offered a reminder that the gap between frameworks on paper and reporting in practice is bridged by people, not policy alone.
‘On the ground, we are seeing strong momentum, particularly among more exposed and publicly accountable companies, but readiness remains uneven as many organisations are still building the technical capabilities needed for ISSB-aligned reporting,’ he said. ‘More importantly, there are also companies going beyond compliance and working to embed sustainability into their strategy and risk management, and to meaningfully connect this with financial performance.’
Regulation sets the destination, but capability is what gets companies there
That in turn highlights the second constraint, which is at least as significant as political commitment: skills. Across the region there are real bottlenecks in the supply of professionals who can prepare, review and assure sustainability information to a credible standard. Demand has run ahead of capacity, which is a natural feature of a fast-moving agenda. Finance teams are taking on data they have not handled before, and the pool of practitioners equipped to provide assurance is still growing. This is a solvable constraint, and one the region is well placed to tackle collectively.
It is precisely this part of the agenda where the profession adds the most value. Regulation sets the destination, but capability is what gets companies there, and it is built through training, qualifications and shared standards of practice. Strengthening professional capability and infrastructure is one of Sustainability Reporting in ASEAN’s central recommendations, and it is the area where the profession, the regulators and bodies such as ACCA have the most direct role to play.
What comes next
None of these challenges should dim the genuine progress. ASEAN has come a long way in a short time, and the leading markets are setting a credible example. But the next phase is harder than the first. It means converting commitment into consistent implementation, closing the capability gap, and persuading the member states still on the sidelines that alignment is in their interest and worth pursuing quickly, with an eye on the lessons of the first movers.
The opportunity is a region that reports on a common, comparable basis and speaks with one voice on how the global baseline should develop. That outcome is well within the region’s own hands, and the early movers have already shown it can be done. The task now, one that ACCA is committed to supporting, is to help the rest of ASEAN follow the path they have opened up.
More information
Read ACCA’s report Sustainability Reporting in ASEAN
