This webinar, "ASRS Readiness Assessment" provides an overview of the Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) and introduces a free readiness assessment tool to help businesses prepare for mandatory climate disclosures. The ASRS is modeled on international standards from the ISSB and focuses on financial materiality, requiring companies to report on climate-related risks and opportunities that could impact their finances.

The webinar emphasizes the shift from voluntary to mandatory climate reporting, highlighting that the ASRS aims to create greater transparency and comparability in climate-related financial disclosures. While the ASRS directly applies to larger companies, it will indirectly impact smaller organizations through their value chains, requiring them to answer climate-related questions from their business partners. 

The readiness assessment is a free 10-15 minute survey that helps companies gauge their preparedness by looking at organizational capacity, business models, value chain mapping, stakeholder engagement, governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.The assessment scores companies into three categories: Starters, Preparers, and Reporters, and offers guidance on key actions for each group. 

Key takeaways from the webinar include the importance of understanding your value chain, integrating climate risk into existing risk management systems, and establishing GHG accounting processes. The webinar also stresses that the ASRS reporting is about disclosure, not value judgment; the goal is to show where you are in your climate journey, while implicitly demonstrating a need to do the work.

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