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    SASB

    Definition

    Industry-based sustainability disclosure standards for 77 industries, maintained and enhanced by the ISSB within the IFRS Foundation.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/sasb

    Scope: They help identify industry-specific information; their use and legal status depend on the reporting framework.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    How the SASB Standards are built and used

    The SASB Standards are industry-based standards meant to bring out the sustainability-related risks and opportunities most likely to matter to investors. The IFRS Foundation describes them as covering the issues most relevant to investor decision-making across 77 industries. Each industry standard has disclosure topics, which average six per industry, metrics, which average 13 per industry, technical protocols that define scope and calculation, and activity metrics that scale figures for comparison. The topics fall into five categories: leadership and governance, the environment, human capital, social capital, and business model and innovation. Companies are placed in the Sustainable Industry Classification System, which groups them by shared sustainability risks and opportunities, not by source of revenue alone. The Foundation says the Standards were developed through evidence-based research, with input from companies, investors and subject-matter experts, and with approval by an independent SASB Standards Board.

    The ISSB is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the SASB Standards. The IFRS Foundation says they play an important role in IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, and IFRS S2 includes industry-based requirements derived from them. The ISSB is revising them in phases. In March 2026 it issued an exposure draft that proposes changes to three more Standards, the remaining three of 12 identified as initial priorities, after a consultation on the first nine in 2025. The aims include aligning language and concepts with the ISSB Standards and keeping climate-related content aligned with the industry-based guidance on implementing IFRS S2. In December 2025 it also issued consequential amendments that align the financed emissions metrics of three SASB Standards with IFRS S2 as amended.

    The Foundation's guide asks readers to treat an industry standard as a guide, neither a minimum nor a maximum. Some topics may not apply to a company, and further topics may matter to its strategy. Each company decides for itself which topics count as risks and opportunities in its business and which metrics to disclose. Those who use the Standards within ISSB implementation are pointed to the ISSB application guidance, while those using them on their own may use the SASB application guidance. This page offers general information, not advice on what an issuer should disclose.

    Sources opened :

    What a SASB-based disclosure record holds in software

    • The industry or industries the company is classified in, with the date and the result of the classification tool.
    • For each industry standard, the disclosure topics reviewed, those found applicable and the reasoning for any that are not.
    • Topics outside the standard that the company judges relevant, with the reason.
    • Each metric reported with its technical protocol, unit, period, scope and calculation.
    • The activity metrics used to normalise results.
    • The edition of each Standard applied and any amendment applied, such as aligned financed emissions metrics.
    • A link to the ISSB requirement the data also answers, where a SASB metric supports an IFRS S2 industry disclosure.

    SASB, IFRS S1 and S2 and the GRI Standards

    The SASB Standards give industry-specific topics and metrics aimed at investor-relevant information. IFRS S1 and S2 are the ISSB requirements that draw on them. The GRI Standards are a separate set built around impacts on the economy, environment and people, so the same topic name can carry a different definition and boundary in each.

    A hypothetical example: a company that spans two industries

    The manufacturer in this case is invented, and the case describes no real company. A manufacturer of building products also runs a small logistics subsidiary. Its team looks up the primary industry in the classification tool, which returns a single primary industry, and records a second industry for the subsidiary, since a single classification does not prevent using more than one industry standard. Across the two standards it lists 12 disclosure topics, six in each. It finds that 2 do not apply to its activities, records why, and so reports 10. It also notes one topic outside the standards that matters to its strategy and adds it as an extra disclosure.

    At a later reporting date a revised version of one standard is applied. The team keeps the old and new metric definitions side by side, restates the prior year where the definition changed and records which edition each figure follows. A reviewer samples three metrics and traces each to ledger or meter data and to the technical protocol.

    Common misunderstandings about SASB

    • SASB is not a legal requirement on its own. Its use and legal status depend on the framework a company reports under.
    • An industry standard is not a checklist to be completed to the letter, and it is not a limit. Topics may not apply and others may matter.
    • A single classification does not restrict a company to one standard. A company with several activities may use several.
    • SASB metrics are not the same as GRI or ESRS datapoints. Definitions and boundaries differ, so any mapping needs checking.
    • The Standards are still changing. The ISSB has proposed amendments to 12 priority Standards in two rounds, nine and then three, so record the edition used and the date it was read.

    How SASB relates to other glossary terms

    SASB supplies the industry layer that other frameworks can draw on.

    • IFRS S1/S2: the ISSB requirements that use the industry-based Standards.
    • GRI: a separate standard set built around impacts rather than investor relevance.
    • Materiality assessment: the process that decides which topics a company reports, with industry topics as an input.
    • ESG: the umbrella under which industry-based topics are commonly requested.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for SASB-based reporting

    • The industry classification result and the date it was run.
    • A topic review sheet showing applicable and non-applicable topics with reasons.
    • Source data and calculations for each metric, with the technical protocol followed.
    • Reviewer sign-off for each metric.
    • A record of the edition and any amendment applied.
    • Any investor request that cited a SASB topic, with the reply.

    What a software tool needs to capture for SASB-based reporting

    • Industry and topic structures held as data, with the edition each belongs to.
    • A way to mark a topic not applicable with a reason and approver.
    • Metric storage with unit, scope, period and a link to its technical protocol.
    • Activity metrics held beside the metrics they normalise.
    • Edition handling that keeps the old definition when a Standard is amended.
    • Custom topics for matters the standard does not list.
    • An export that shows the industry, topics and exclusions, not only totals.

    Catalog profiles documenting ESG data and reporting

    Profiles are listed by the ESG platform workflow rule. Which SASB industries or editions a product holds is not shown by the list; put that to each supplier.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “ESG Reporting”, “ESG Frameworks Reporting”, “Sustainability Reporting”, “ESG & Sustainability” or “Sustainability & ESG”, with a sourced ESG reporting or disclosure capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 24 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Who maintains the SASB Standards?

    The IFRS Foundation says the ISSB is responsible for the SASB Standards and is maintaining and enhancing them. IFRS S2 incorporates industry-based requirements derived from them. The Standards can be read in the SASB Standards Navigator.

    How many industries and topics do the Standards cover?

    The IFRS Foundation describes them as covering the issues most relevant to investor decision-making across 77 industries, with on average six disclosure topics and 13 metrics per industry.

    Are the SASB Standards changing in 2026?

    The ISSB published an exposure draft in March 2026 proposing amendments to three more Standards, after proposals on nine in 2025, and issued consequential amendments on financed emissions metrics in December 2025. Check the edition for your period.

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