SASB’s Industry-specific Sustainability Accounting Disclosure Standards [Completed]

Date issued:

The SASB Standards were issued on November 7, 2018

Last up­dated:

November 2018

Overview

On November 7, 2018, the U.S. Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) issued the world's first set of industry-specific sustainability accounting standards covering financially material issues in 77 industries. The standards aim at providing investors with in-depth information about the impact of a company’s actions on society and the environment.

What makes the standards unique in the marketplace is their focus on industry specificity and financial materiality. By addressing the subset of sustainability factors most likely to have financially material impacts on the typical company in an industry, SASB’s industry-specific standards help investors and companies make more informed decisions. They are global in nature and contain concepts that are important for investors and businesses around the world.

The release marks a six-year effort by the SASB. Over the course of those six years, the SASB released several sets of provisional standards for different industries, which have already been used by companies around the world. The SASB standards can be used alongside other sustainability frameworks and are well-aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and are complementary to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

For fur­ther in­for­ma­tion, re­fer to the SASB’s press re­lease and the Standards on the SASB's web­site.

Other de­vel­op­ments

Novem­ber 2017

On November 7, 2018, the SASB issued the world's first set of industry-specific sustainability accounting standards covering financially material issues in 77 industries.

December 2017

On December 22, 2017, the SASB extended its public comment period by a month, through January 31, 2018. The extension is in direct response to requests from companies, investors and other key stakeholders for additional time, and recognizes the importance of stakeholders providing a full and comprehensive response to the standards.

October 2017

On October 2, 2017, the SASB published its Exposure Draft “Standards”, which is open for a 90-day public comment period ending December 31, 2017.

 

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