There is broad support in global capital markets for all companies—regardless of their industry—to disclose their Scope 1, Scope 2 and (where feasible) Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For this reason, IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures includes cross-industry disclosure requirements for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 GHG emissions (subject to an entity’s determination that information regarding those emissions is material). The approach to climate-related disclosure in the SASB Standards is different but not in conflict with such cross-industry reporting.
A subset of 22 SASB Standards include disclosure topics and metrics regarding direct (Scope 1) emissions, because the SASB standard-setting process identified those industries as the most likely to face financial effects specifically related to their emissions. These effects may manifest as regulatory risks and shifts in consumer demand, which in turn affect costs and revenues.
For indirect emissions, SASB Standards capture the operational and/or strategic factors that give rise to such emissions. For the 35 industries that indirectly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through significant use of purchased electricity (i.e., Scope 2), SASB Standards contain metrics related to understanding the amount, type (conventional or renewable) and source (self-generated or purchased) of energy.
For industries that indirectly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions upstream (e.g., from purchased materials processing and transportation), downstream (e.g., from distribution and use of products) or in other ways (e.g., from employee commuting and business travel)—in other words, Scope 3 emissions—SASB Standards recommend metrics directly related to performance in those areas.
For more information on the approach to GHG emissions and related topics in the SASB Standards, see the SASB Climate Risk Technical Bulletin.