As the former Chair of the Board and CEO of Danone, a multi-national food products company, Emmanual Faber has long championed the importance of sustainability information to the global capital markets and its relevance to the investment decision-making process. Under his leadership, Danone introduced various innovations to help investors and credit providers better understand how sustainability factors might affect their assessment of enterprise value over the short, medium and long-term.
Faber has significant global experience, having lived in and held senior leadership positions across four continents—Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe. He founded and chairs several international organisations and initiatives, including the One Planet Business for Biodiversity coalition and the G7 Business for Inclusive Growth coalition―co-chaired with the OECD Secretary General. He initiated Danone Communities, a social business initiative providing funding to bring nutrition and water access for vulnerable communities, as well as the Livelihoods Venture, which provides funding for ecosystem restoration and the development of sustainable farming in emerging economies.
Commenting on the appointment, Erkki Liikanen, Chair of the IFRS Foundation Trustees, said:
Emmanuel Faber has been a long-term proponent of companies factoring sustainability matters into their strategy and in their reporting to the markets. His global leadership skills and drive make him the ideal inaugural ISSB Chair to lead the development of standards to meet investors’ demand for information about climate and other sustainability matters.
Emmanuel Faber said:
Investors are demanding high quality, globally comparable sustainability information on which to make informed investment decisions. The ISSB represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fulfil that need in a fast-changing world, where climate in particular will drive major shifts in the coming years. We should move diligently and build on the great momentum resulting from the formation of the ISSB at COP26. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with stakeholders across the world in developing ESG standards that inform global capital allocations, market prices and cost of capital, working alongside the IASB.
Andreas Barckow, IASB Chair, said:
Congratulations to Emmanuel on his appointment. I look forward to working closely with him and his board to serve the information needs of investors.
The appointment of Faber, which is for an initial three-year term, is supported by the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board, which oversees various aspects of the governance of the IFRS Foundation.
Text: IFRS press release, 16 December 2021. Read the full press release here.
Picture: Clemens van Lay via Unsplash.