SASB Standards can provide an industry-specific set of climate-related disclosure topics and associated metrics to help a company more effectively implement TCFD recommendations. Investors have increasingly coalesced around a combination of the TCFD recommendations and SASB Standards as foundational tools to provide capital markets with effective climate- and sustainability-related financial disclosure. As such, the ISSB’s [draft] Climate-related Disclosures Standard and [draft] General Requirements Standard combine key aspects of the two, recognizing that sustainability disclosure should contain both qualitative disclosures and quantitative metrics:
- Qualitative information, like that recommended by the TCFD regarding a company's approach to governance, strategy and risk management, provides essential context to investors, helping them more fully understand the company’s current position, future prospects and the relevant circumstances under which performance has been achieved.
- Quantitative metrics, like those included in SASB Standards, introduce essential elements of accountability and comparability to sustainability-related financial disclosure. They shed important light on the effectiveness of a company’s governance practices, its strategy, its approach to risk management and its progress toward key performance targets. Quantitative metrics also facilitate comparison to peers or industry benchmarks.
For more information about how the TCFD recommendations and SASB Standards fit together, see the TCFD Implementation Guide, TCFD Good Practice Handbook, and SASB Climate Risk Technical Bulletin. Visit the IFRS project page for information on the ISSB's IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.