Sustainability Reporting Readiness - CARICOM Markets
The Horizon
Sustainability reporting in the Caribbean is voluntary today. It won’t stay that way, and the companies that start now will set the pace.
Where things stand (as at October 2026)
- Trinidad and Tobago. ICATT adopted the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 for voluntary use from January 2024. It has said it will set out its position on implementation by the end of 2026.
- Green and sustainable finance. The Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange published its GSS+ Guidelines in September 2026, with IDB Invest. They cover green, social, sustainability, sustainability-linked, blue, transition, gender and resilience labels. They come with clear expectations: a published framework, tracking of proceeds, annual allocation and impact reports, and external review. A label can be refused or lost.
- Banks. The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago has expected climate risk in banks’ capital assessments (ICAAP) since 2020.
- Parent groups abroad. Many Caribbean operations belong to European or US groups. Their data now feeds group sustainability reporting under the EU’s CSRD or California’s climate disclosure laws, and EU importers face the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
- The region. Barbados is consulting on phased ESG guidelines for non-bank financial institutions. Jamaica has a GSS+ bond guide. A regional green taxonomy is in development.
- Lenders and investors. Development-bank finance comes with environmental and social action plans and annual monitoring reports. International investors and customers in the UK and EU expect evidence, not intentions.
The direction to 2030
Nothing here sets a mandatory 2030 deadline yet. But every signal points the same way: ISSB-aligned disclosure, greenhouse gas figures that stand up to scrutiny, climate risk in governance and risk management, and data that can be assured. Most listed companies in the region have started on governance and structure. Very few yet have the numbers.
How I help
Your team knows your business. What it often lacks is the time and the specialist hands to get a reporting programme moving and make the evidence hold up. That’s where I come in.
I work alongside existing sustainability, finance and risk teams as a contract resource:
- Start it. Scope and set up the readiness programme: plan, owners, timeline.
- Find the gaps. Review where you stand against IFRS S1/S2, the GSS+ Guidelines, your parent group’s requirements or a lender’s. [NEW: parent group]
- Fix the data. Check data quality and controls on the numbers you’ll be asked to defend: the GHG baseline, energy, water, social metrics.
- Build the evidence. Methods, documentation and audit trails, so the data is ready for assurance.
- Do the reporting. Help draft and run the report, the submission to your group, or the allocation and impact reporting for a labelled bond, while your team builds its own capability.
I bring a finance and internal-audit background (ACCA-qualified, former Senior Internal Audit Manager at British American Tobacco). I also bring hands-on experience leading sustainability strategy and reporting for a multinational, connecting site data to group disclosures. I’m Caribbean, and I know how businesses here work.
What You Need to Get Ready For
ISSB (IFRS S1/S2) readiness
How I Support Your Team
Sustainability Data Controls Review: a readiness and data-quality review against S1/S2, with a prioritised plan. Annual Sustainability Reporting, Run for You: hands-on support to produce the report.
Group reporting for subsidiaries of EU and US groups
Sustainability Data Controls Review: the site data your parent group reports under CSRD or California’s climate disclosure laws, with the controls and evidence behind it. Run for You: each year’s group submission, on time and defensible. |
A greenhouse gas baseline that holds up
Watershed Implementation and Data Controls (or your own carbon platform): boundaries, methods, data flows and controls, and a reduction pathway from your baseline.
Targets and transition
SBTi Readiness: are your targets credible and benchmarked, and could they be validated?
Green, social and sustainability-linked finance (GSS+)
Sustainability Data Controls Review, applied to proceeds tracking and KPI evidence. Run for You, applied to annual allocation and impact reports. Green Claims Evidence Review: claims and labels you can stand behind.
Banks: climate risk in ICAAP and risk management
Support to build climate risk into risk registers, capital assessments and board reporting, with the controls and evidence a supervisor or internal audit will look for.
Development-bank projects
Support with environmental and social action plans, monitoring and lender reporting for projects financed by the IDB, IDB Invest and other development banks.
Customers and supply chains in the UK and EU
B Corp and EcoVadis Readiness. Human Rights Due Diligence: policy, controls and evidence.
