An obscure climate accounting decision with billion-dollar consequences

How: In a London meeting room recently, the International Accounting Standards Board decided that corporate climate targets were not just about sustainability: they could create direct financial consequences for companies’ balance sheets.

And as interpretation decisions from this board also inform public sector accounting, it also provides guidance for how public entities, councils and countries financially account for the cost of meeting climate targets. It has potential billion-dollar consequences for the New Zealand Government’s financial statements.