SASB

Overview

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is dedicated to advancing sustainability reporting in the corporate world. Established in 2011, SASB has emerged as a leader in setting industry-specific standards for the disclosure of financially material sustainability information.

Scope & Adoption

SASB's primary mission is to develop industry-specific sustainability accounting standards that help organisations communicate financially material sustainability factors to their investors. These standards cover a wide array of industries, ensuring that disclosures are relevant, comparable and meaningful for various sectors.

In 2023, the SASB standards were consolidated into the IFRS. The SASB standards have contributed towards the development of the IFRS sustainability standards. Companies disclosing to the IFRS sustainability standards are encouraged to use the SASB standards for industry-specific metric disclosures.

Why it Matters

SASB standards take into account varying risks and opportunities on an industry basis and are designed to be cost-effective for companies to use. The standards mirror those of accounting standards as they are evidence-based and market-informed.

Reporting Process

Companies follow SASB's industry-specific standards to report their sustainability performance. SASB provides a detailed set of standards for each industry, specifying the key sustainability topics, metrics, and disclosures that are financially material. Organisations typically align their sustainability reporting cycles with their fiscal years.

Alignment with other frameworks

While the SASB does not officially align to other standards, they are often used as the basis for disclosures with sector-specific questions. For example, IFRS S2 will encompass most of SASB. There is a high degree of indicator-alignment between SASB and TCFD, GRI, UNGC, and ESRS. 

SASB with Nossa Data

Nossa Data is licensed to support the SASB standards. Clients have access to their industry-specific SASB template/s and can produce a SASB index to be used in their Annual Report or published on their website. Nossa Data clients have in-platform access to question-specific guidance and workflow collaboration tools to craft their responses faster and benchmark against industry peers.

Start your SASB Journey with Nossa Data

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Sources:

• https://sasb.org/about/ 
• https://sasb.org/standards/ 
• https://sasb.org/licensing-use/firms/#darf 
• https://sasb.org/implementation-primer/ 
• https://sasb.org/sasb-your-pathway-to-issb/ 
• https://www.globalreporting.org/about-gri/mission-history/