ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification

ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification

The ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification is designed for assurance, risk, audit, and sustainability professionals who are involved in, or preparing to support, assurance engagements on sustainability and climate-related disclosures.

It is also suitable for professionals who are looking to build capability in sustainability assurance, including those transitioning from financial audit, risk, or governance roles into sustainability and climate assurance work.

The programme equips participants with the technical knowledge, assurance methodologies, and professional judgement required to understand, plan and contribute effectively to sustainability and climate assurance engagements. Our programme is delivered in a hybrid format, combining self-paced e-Learning with a 3-day in-person capstone workshop. This allows participants to build core technical knowledge flexibly while using valuable face-to-face time to tackle real-world challenges and exercise professional judgement and to learn from peers and practitioners.

Completion of the ISCA Sustainability Professional Certification is required before progressing to the Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification. This is to ensure participants have a strong grounding in sustainability reporting concepts and frameworks.

ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification

A Structured Learning Journey

The ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification provides a focused and applied pathway for professionals seeking to build competence in sustainability and climate assurance.

What You Will Learn

Sustainability and climate assurance concepts and approaches
Sustainability assurance standards and frameworks
Planning and performing sustainability and climate assurance engagements
Professional judgement, ethics, independence, and quality management
Emerging practices and developments in sustainability and climate assurance

Potential Job Roles after completing this Certification

Sustainability assurance roles within professional services firms
Internal audit (sustainability focus)
Sustainability governance

ISCA Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification programme consists of the following modules:

Foundational (41 hours) e-learning

M101 - Overview – Sustainability, Business and Finance

M102 - Introduction to Climate Risk, Opportunities and Reporting

M103 - Sustainability Reporting I

M104 - Sustainability Reporting II

M105 - Introduction to Sustainability Assurance I

M106 - Introduction in Sustainability Assurance II

M107 - Social Sustainability

Professional (38 hours) e-learning

M201 - Deep Dive into Climate Reporting

M202 - Assuring Climate Report

Capstone (42 hours) in-person

M301 - Capstone Module for Sustainability Professional

M302 - Capstone Module for Sustainability Assurance

Learn more about the modules here.

Please note that e-learning content will be available from 1 April 2026.

After completing the e-Learning and any capstone components, participants will undergo a remotely proctored assessment comprising 80 multiple-choice questions to be attempted within 2 hours. A minimum score of 70% is required to pass and be awarded the ISCA Sustainability Professional Certification.

Audit and assurance professionals
Risk and internal audit professionals
Sustainability practitioners working closely with assurance teams
Governance, compliance, and control professionals
Professionals preparing to support sustainability and climate assurance work

Why This Certification

Designed for Assurance Practice

Develop practical assurance competencies to support sustainability and climate-related assurance engagements, with a strong emphasis on professional judgement, evidence gathering, and assurance methodologies.

Grounded in Assurance Standards

Build a solid understanding of sustainability and climate assurance standards and practices, including international assurance frameworks commonly applied to sustainability reporting engagements.

Practitioner-Led Learning

Learn from experienced assurance and sustainability practitioners with hands-on involvement in sustainability and climate assurance work, offering insights grounded in real-world assurance practice.

Applied and Practice-Focused Learning Pathway

Progress through a structured learning journey that integrates technical knowledge with practical application, focusing on how sustainability assurance engagements are planned, performed, and evaluated in practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Sustainability Professional Certification focuses on the preparation and understanding of sustainability and climate reports.
The Sustainability Assurance Professional Certification focuses on assurance methodologies, evidence evaluation, and professional judgement applied to sustainability and climate disclosures.

Completion of the Sustainability Professional Certification is required before progressing to this assurance-focused programme.

Yes. The programme is designed as a progressive learning journey, starting from foundational sustainability concepts and building towards advanced climate reporting and applied professional practice.

For assurance services on the anticipated mandatory climate reporting proposed under the ACRA's and SGX RegCo's consultation paper on the recommendations by the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee (SRAC), the SRAC's proposal is to only allow ACRA-registered audit firms and SAC-accredited TIC firms to register as climate auditors. There are also additional requirements for the signing individuals. You may refer to the recommendations in Section E of the consultation paper for more information.

For other types of sustainability assurance, which are voluntary, for example assurance over other aspects of the sustainability report, the current exposure draft of ISSA 5000 is proposed to be profession-agnostic, i.e. non-public accountants may be able to provide such assurance as well, provided they meet certain requirements under the standards.

Kindly note that the above is still in the process of finalisation, and these may change when they are finalised. There may also be new consultations which may change the regulatory landscape and requirements.

The programme is designed to build assurance capability and understanding, regardless of professional designation.

Participants should note that eligibility to sign off auditor’s reports or provide certain types of assurance engagements is subject to prevailing regulatory and professional requirements, which may differ depending on the nature of the assurance engagement and applicable regulations.

Participants must complete the Programme within 6 months from registration or 1 month after the capstone module, whichever is later.

After the capstone module, participants are required to sit for an assessment. There are 80 questions to be completed within 120 minutes. Participants must achieve at least 70% to pass the assessment. The assessment can be taken remotely and the session uses remote proctoring to validate the identity of the participants and ensure the integrity of the session. If the participant fails the assessment, they need to pay an additional $109 (Inclusive of GST) administration fee for a re-attempt.