SAsb

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is a United States nonprofit organization that develops and disseminates industry-specific sustainability accounting standards intended for use in financial reporting to investors. SASB’s standards are organized by industry sector and identify financially material sustainability topics that companies should disclose. The framework emphasizes materiality from an investor perspective, focusing on issues likely to affect a company’s financial condition, operating performance, or strategic planning. SASB also provides a Materiality Map, a guidance tool showing which topics are material for each industry and how they relate to financial metrics.

The SASB Standards cover multiple topics across a range of sectors, with the aim of enabling comparable, decision-useful disclosures that can be integrated with traditional financial reporting. They are designed to be used alongside existing reporting frameworks and to facilitate linkage between sustainability factors and financial results, risk management, and opportunity assessment. Companies can incorporate SASB topics into annual reports, regulatory filings, or integrated reports, depending on local requirements and investor expectations.

History and current status: SASB was founded in 2011 as an independent nonprofit by leaders including Jean Rogers to create a standards-based approach for sharing sustainability information with investors. In 2020, SASB merged with the Climate Disclosure Standards Board to form the Value Reporting Foundation, an organization intended to coordinate sustainability reporting standards. In subsequent years, the IFRS Foundation acquired the Value Reporting Foundation and advanced a global baseline for sustainability disclosures through the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). SASB’s sector-based approach and topic structure have influenced the ISSB’s early work, and SASB standards continue to inform contemporary sustainability reporting practices within IFRS-based regimes.