The First Nations Financial Management Board (“the FMB”) is pleased to provide the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (“the IPSASB”) with a response to the Consultation Paper - Advancing Public Sector Sustainability Reporting (“the CP”).
The CP is an important step in expanding disclosure requirements for sustainability-related financial information. The FMB commends the work that has been done by the IPSASB in this emerging reporting area. Sustainability reporting in the public sector will apply to a broad range of stakeholders – including Indigenous governments. It is vital that standard setting bodies, including the IPSASB, begin to reflect the unique needs of Indigenous people and their governing bodies. There are estimated to be 476.6 million Indigenous people around the world and spread across more than 90 countries, and who speak more than 4,000 languages1. Recent research demonstrates that while the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples make up less than five percent of the total human population, they manage or hold tenure over 25 percent of the world’s land surface and support about 80 percent of the global biodiversity2. Indigenous people have a lot to contribute to the development of sustainability standards and we encourage the IPSASB to consult with them internationally.
FMB Comment Letter on "Advancing Public Sector Sustainability Reporting"