ESG & Sustainability reporting frameworks & resources

ESG reporting resources as of August 2023

The growing demand for more and better ESG and sustainability-related data and disclosures has given rise to the proliferation of voluntary ESG disclosure standards and frameworks to help address this market need.

To get started, it’s important to understand the difference between a standard and framework, and a third type of reporting, ratings. In short, Frameworks provide principles and guidance on how information is structured and presented in reports. Standards are about ensuring granularity, reliability and comparability of topics for stakeholders, investors and corporates. Frameworks and standards complement each other.

As defined here by the Global Reporting Initiative:

A standard is a specific quality requirement for reporting. It contains detailed criteria, or ESG metrics, of “what” should be reported on a specific topic. Standards involve a public interest focus, independence, due process, and public consultation, strengthening the basis of what is being asked.
A framework is a broader, contextual “frame” for information. It is a set of principles providing guidance and shaping understanding of a certain topic, defining the direction of information but not the methodology of collection or reporting itself. It may be used when a well-defined standard does not exist.
Ratings pertains to the data or information itself: whether it comes directly from the companies or is produced by third parties. They are created by research firms based on proprietary methodologies; while they may include company data and disclosures in the process of assessing a company’s environmental, social, and governance practices, their resulting scores may vary significantly depending on the methodology used. Market participants use this data in capital allocation decisions, in addition to ESG data disclosures.

List of Key Organizations: ESG standards

Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB)

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board (previously The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG))

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB )

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

International Accounting Standards Board (IASB)

The IFRS Foundation (IFRS)

International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)

International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)

History behind ISSB

IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. These are new standards developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), which was set up in 2021 by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation. The IFRS standards build on the existing SASB Standards and also supersede the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) following the consolidation of the organizations responsible for those two frameworks into the IFRS Foundation in 2022.

The IFRS Foundation, is also consolidating the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), which comprises the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

These prototypes are the result of six months of work by the CDSB, IASB, TCFD, VRF and the World Economic Forum (WEF) and are supported by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).