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Lagos, Nigeria – July 20, 2026
The Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria (SPIN) is calling for a clear distinction between sustainability practice and sustainability reporting, and for the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) to regulate corporate reporting without positioning itself as the definer of sustainability practice or a competitor to the professionals it regulates.
SPIN fully supports Nigeria’s adoption of the ISSB Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2) and Nigeria’s standing as an early adopter. The Institute is concerned, however, by a growing narrative that treats these two disclosure standards as though they were the whole of sustainability and a monopoly of the accounting profession. They are not.
Reporting is not the discipline.
Sustainability encompasses governance, strategy, environmental stewardship, climate resilience, biodiversity, human rights, labour practices, stakeholder engagement, responsible investment, the circular economy, community development and long-term value creation. Reporting standards provide a way to communicate aspects of that work. They do not constitute it.
“Reporting is the final expression of sustainability performance,” said the SPIN. “Organisations cannot credibly disclose what they have not first governed, measured, managed and improved. As Nigeria moves toward mandatory disclosure, our objective must be better sustainability performance, not merely better reports.”
IFRS S1 and S2 are part of a broader ecosystem.
The two standards were built to guide sustainability-related financial disclosures for investors, grounded in financial materiality, the risks and opportunities that affect enterprise value. Global practice extends well beyond this. The European Sustainability Reporting Standards, the Global Reporting Initiative, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the UN Global Compact and numerous scientific protocols remain indispensable to how organisations understand and manage their impact on society and the environment. IFRS S1 and S2 belong within that ecosystem. They are not a substitute for it.
Sustainability is not an accounting discipline.
SPIN is concerned by messaging that casts sustainability as principally an accounting function, or that presents competence in IFRS S1 and S2 as competence in sustainability itself. “Sustainability has always been multidisciplinary,” the Institute stated. “It draws on environmental science, engineering, economics, finance, governance, law, public policy, climate science, community engagement, human rights, communications, social performance and risk management. No single profession can claim ownership of it.”
The roles must remain distinct.
The FRC performs a critical statutory function in regulating corporate reporting. That role is important and necessary, but regulating corporate reporting is not the same as stewarding sustainability as an academic discipline, a professional practice or a national development agenda. Nor should a regulator cross the line into implementation, commercial capacity- building, and direct competition with the industry players it regulates. A regulator’s authority depends on that separation.
A credible sustainability ecosystem depends on the combined contributions of regulators, academia, professional institutes, business, civil society, development partners and practitioners across many disciplines. Reducing sustainability education to a single investor-focused disclosure framework narrows professional competence at the precise moment Nigeria needs broad institutional capacity to address climate change, biodiversity loss, social inequality and responsible business conduct.
SPIN therefore calls on all stakeholders engaged in sustainability capacity-building to present the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards in their proper context and to support education that reflects the full breadth of sustainability knowledge and practice. The Institute reaffirms its commitment to working with the Federal Government, regulators, the private sector and development partners to strengthen sustainability governance, professional competence and responsible business conduct through balanced, technically sound and internationally aligned approaches.
“Reports matter because they reflect reality,” the Board concluded. “They do not replace it.”
About SPIN
The Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria (SPIN) is Nigeria’s foremost professional institute dedicated to advancing excellence in sustainability practice. The Institute promotes professional standards, ethics, interdisciplinary collaboration, capacity development and thought leadership to support sustainable development across the public and private sectors.
Media Contact
The Secretariat, Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria (SPIN)
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