The Beekly: Australia's Climate Regulation, with Sumday CEO Jessica Richmond

​Australia has one of the most consequential sustainability reporting regimes now coming into force anywhere in the world. The AASB's climate-related financial disclosure standards — grounded in IFRS S2 — sit inside a broader mandatory sustainability reporting framework that covers emissions accounting, climate risk, and broader ESG disclosure obligations. For companies operating in Australia, the rules are unfamiliar: different scope thresholds, different timelines, different enforcement posture, and a regulator that expects substance.

​In this episode of The Beekly, Adriel Lubarsky sits down with Jessica Richmond, CEO of Sumday, whose carbon accounting platform is purpose-built for the Australian regulatory landscape. Jessica works directly with Australian companies navigating ASRS for the first time and she has a clear view of where the gaps are, especially for multinationals applying a U.S. or EU playbook in an Australian context.

​What we'll cover

​How Australia's sustainability reporting framework is structured — what AASB S2, ASRS, and related obligations actually require, and how they fit together

​How the framework compares to the California laws and CSRD, and the differences that create real operational complexity for global teams

​Where carbon accounting sits within the broader reporting picture — Scope 1, 2, and 3 obligations, data quality challenges, and what good looks like

​The disclosure areas Australian entities are finding hardest: scenario analysis, financial materiality, and Scope 3 value chain data

​What U.S. companies with Australian operations or supply chains should be doing now — and the most common mistakes Jessica sees

​How the Australian regulator is approaching enforcement, and what a credible first disclosure actually looks like