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The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is a non-profit organization that develops industry-specific sustainability disclosure standards to help businesses communicate financially material ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) information to investors.
SASB standards are now maintained by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) under the IFRS Foundation, following a merger in 2021.
🧭 Purpose of SASB
SASB’s mission is to:
- Identify sustainability topics that are financially material to investors
- Provide a standardized framework for reporting ESG performance
- Help companies improve transparency, comparability, and accountability in sustainability reporting
🏢 Who Uses SASB Standards?
- Publicly listed companies reporting ESG risks and performance
- Investors seeking insights into ESG factors affecting valuation
- Asset managers and analysts integrating ESG into financial decisions
- Companies preparing for integrated or sustainability reports
🏗️ Industry-Specific Approach
SASB standards are tailored to 77 different industries across 11 sectors:
Sector | Example Industries |
Technology & Communications | Semiconductors, Internet Media |
Healthcare | Pharmaceuticals, Medical Equipment |
Financials | Banks, Insurance, Asset Management |
Transportation | Airlines, Rail, Shipping |
Energy | Oil & Gas, Renewables |
Food & Beverage | Packaged Foods, Alcoholic Beverages |
Consumer Goods | Apparel, Automobiles |
Infrastructure | Real Estate, Construction |
Resource Transformation | Chemicals, Aerospace |
Services | Education, Casinos |
Extractives & Minerals | Mining, Coal |
📊 Key ESG Topics in SASB Standards
SASB organizes disclosure topics under five broad sustainability dimensions:
- Environment (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, water use)
- Social Capital (e.g., customer privacy, community impact)
- Human Capital (e.g., labor practices, health & safety)
- Business Model & Innovation (e.g., supply chain, product lifecycle)
- Leadership & Governance (e.g., ethics, risk management)
📝 SASB Disclosure Format
SASB doesn’t require companies to create standalone reports—it encourages integration into:
- Annual reports (e.g., 10-K filings)
- Sustainability reports
- Integrated ESG reports
Typical disclosures include:
- Metrics (quantitative)
- Management discussion (qualitative)
- Year-over-year performance
- Industry benchmarking
✅ Benefits of Using SASB Standards
- Aligns ESG disclosures with investor expectations
- Enhances materiality focus (what truly impacts value)
- Improves decision-useful reporting
- Prepares companies for global ESG standards (like IFRS S1 & S2)
🔄 SASB + Other Frameworks
SASB is often used in combination with:
- TCFD (climate risk disclosures)
- GRI (stakeholder-oriented reporting)
- CDP (carbon/environmental data)
- IR Framework (integrated reporting)