Economics DepartmentThe following sustainability standards include some of the current best practices for identifying, measuring, and disclosing climate-related risks. These voluntary reporting standards are used by firms around the world.
The Principles for Responsible Investment (“PRI”) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. Supported by the United Nations, the PRI has over 3,000 signatories and the works to understand the investment implications of ESG factors. Its goal is to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating ESG factors into their investment and ownership decision and to encourage investors to use responsible investments to enhance returns and better manage risks.
The PRI developed six principles designed to help investors incorporate ESG issues into their investment practices. Note that beginning in 2020, TCFD-based reporting has become mandatory for all PRI signatories.
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) is a non-profit organization committed to developing sustainability accounting standards. The SASB’s stated mission is to “establish and improve industry specific disclosure standards across financially material environmental, social and governance topics that facilitate communication between companies and investors about decision-useful information.” SASB standards are used by hundreds of companies around the world and across every sector to communicate sustainability information.
The SASB has developed specific disclosure standards for 77 industries. These standards help firms identify and disclose the subset of sustainability issues that are reasonably likely to be material to investors. The SASB standards can be found here.
The industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures was established by the Financial Stability Board to identify the information needed to appropriately assess and price climate-related risks and opportunities. The Task Force consults with a wide range of business and financial leaders and analyzes thousands of disclosure documents to assess current disclosure practices and develop a robust framework for climate change related disclosure.
The Task Force has developed four widely adopted recommendations on climate-related financial disclosures. The Task Force recommendations can be found here.
The Global Reporting Initiative is an independent international organization that establishes and proliferates sustainability reporting standards. The GRI reporting standards, available here, are the most widely adopted global standards for sustainability reporting. These standards help businesses and governments comprehend and communicate their impact on climate change, human rights, governance and social well-being.