Japan's Financial Services Agency wants to widen the set of Sustainability Standards Board of Japan, or SSBJ, materials that count in Japan's designated sustainability standards list, and to explicitly add a practical route for climate disclosures that use SHK greenhouse-gas data. The draft amendment, released for public comment, would move the publication cutoff for eligible SSBJ material to June 11, 2026 from March 13, 2026.
What actually changes
This is a designation update, not a wholly new disclosure rule. The notice refers to sustainability standards prepared by the SSBJ, the body set up under the Financial Accounting Standards Foundation, and the draft changes which of those publications can be included in the designated appendix. In that sense, a date that looks like legal housekeeping is doing real work: it determines whether SSBJ material published after March 13 but by June 11 can be folded into the list the FSA designates.
The text shown keeps the reference to the same standard-setting body and instead focuses the amendment on the later publication cutoff and one new appendix item.
| Feature | Current text | Draft text |
|---|---|---|
| Cutoff for SSBJ publications in the designated list | Published by March 13, 2026 | Published by June 11, 2026 |
| Added appendix item | No corresponding item in the current text shown | Sustainability Disclosure Practical Solution No. 1, covering climate disclosures that use SHK-measured and reported greenhouse-gas emissions |
How the SHK link fits in
The second change is more operational than calendrical. The draft would newly designate Sustainability Disclosure Practical Solution No. 1, which covers disclosures made when an issuer follows the climate standard using greenhouse-gas emissions measured and reported under the SHK system of the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures. The released text shows the practical solution being added to the designated list, rather than a rewritten climate standard.
Why issuers and investors should watch it
For issuers, the immediate issue is not a brand-new reporting obligation but the perimeter of what the FSA is prepared to designate under the Cabinet Office Order on Disclosure of Corporate Affairs. That leaves a familiar compliance question: which SSBJ texts reporting teams can point to once the FSA finalises the designation notice. For investors, the point is similarly procedural but still important: the final notice will determine whether later SSBJ material, plus the first SHK-related practical solution, becomes part of the officially designated reference set for sustainability disclosure.
The caveat
This is still a draft for public comment, not a final rule. The proposal still has to clear the comment process before these changes are settled.