Analyzing the Extent to which the Environmental Requirements Contained in the General Requirements Standard for Ensuring Sustainability are Compatible with International Environmental and Sustainable Development Agreements and Treaties

Abstract

An Analysis of the Alignment between the Environmental Requirements Contained in the General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Standard (ISSA 5000) and the International Environmental Agreements, Treaties, and Sustainable Development Frameworks Adopted in Iraq .This research aims to analyze the extent to which the environmental requirements outlined in the General Standards for Sustainability Assurance (ISSA 5000), issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, align with international environmental and sustainable development agreements and treaties adopted in the Republic of Iraq, considering the oversight role of the Federal Board of Supreme Audit

This research adopted a deductive approach to constructing its theoretical framework through an analysis of relevant international literature and standards. It also employed an applied approach by conducting a comparative analysis between the requirements of the ISSA 5000 standard and the actual implementation of several environmental agreements to which Iraq is a signatory, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes.

 The research concluded that the current level of compliance allows for the more realistic application of limited assurance compared to reasonable assurance. This is due to the limited availability of verifiable quantitative evidence, the absence of clear environmental performance indicators, and weak regular monitoring and evaluation systems. The analysis also demonstrated that the ISSA 5000 standard can serve as a strategic analytical framework for measuring a country's readiness in environmental governance, rather than simply a professional assurance standard. The research recommends integrating the standard's requirements into procedural guidelines for environmental auditing, developing quantitative environmental performance indicators, and strengthening thecapacities of regulatory bodies in the area of ​​sustainability assurance.