Effective on August 1, 2022, the Value Reporting Foundation consolidated into the IFRS Foundation. At that time, stewardship of the SASB Standards—including all active projects—passed from the SASB Standards Board to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB has committed to building on the SASB Standards and progressing ongoing SASB projects. Any future updates to the SASB Standards resulting from this project will be subject to ISSB due process prior to being finalized.

The information below is intended to provide interested parties with historical information regarding the status of this project at the time of the consolidation.

Project Objective

This standard-setting project seeks to address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in 45 industries, and will evaluate the addition or revision of disclosure topics and/or metrics to better account for how DEI can impact enterprise value within each of these industries.

Project Background

This project stems from staff’s Human Capital Research Project, which was initiated to (1) analyse and document emerging evidence supporting the financial materiality of human capital issues, (2) review how human capital issues are accounted for across the existing SASB Standards, and (3) develop evidence-based recommendations for subsequent standard-setting activities. Since the research project was initiated, staff has completed a comprehensive literature review as well as several rounds of consultation with companies, investors, and subject matter experts, and has presented the preliminary results of the project to the Standards Board, including its Preliminary Framework (Framework) which was published in December 2020. In the May 2021 Board meeting, the staff and Board agreed on the priority of advancing standard-setting work focused on DEI (a subset of the Workplace Culture theme in the Framework).

Subsequently, staff has conducted further research and consultations in developing a list of industries where there exists compelling evidence that DEI is likely to impact enterprise value. More information on the staff’s methodology for industry selection can be found below in the December 2021 Board meeting and supplemental materials.

Transitioned to the ISSB

Next Steps

The research & consultations performed during this project will inform the ISSB’s Consultation on Agenda Priorities, currently scheduled to be released in 2023.

Published Documents

There are no published documents at this time.

Supplemental Materials

EY Blog on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI): the Industry Perspective”

List of Proposed Industries for DEI & Industry Characteristics-Indicators

Board Meeting Outcomes

December 2021

• The Board unanimously approved staff’s proposal to initiate a standard-setting project to evaluate the addition or revision of disclosure topics and/or metrics within an identified set of SASB Industry Standards to better account for the impact of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) on enterprise value.
• The Board and staff discussed staff’s rationale for standard setting, including evidence of investor interest in DEI, evidence connecting DEI to business performance, as well as staff’s approach to identifying industries for inclusion in the standard-setting proposal.
• Next steps in the project will consist of staff conducting further research and market consultation to:
  • Refine industry list and list of industry characteristics/indicators, if needed;
  • Examine channels and industries across international markets; and
  • Develop a preliminary view on disclosure topic(s) scope and general issue category mapping for each identified industry based on channels of business relevance.

Board Materials

For a full list of past and upcoming Standards Board meetings, as well as associated materials, please visit our Board Meetings Calendar & Archive.

The staff has prepared this summary for informational purposes only. Any Standards Board decisions are tentative and do not change current accounting. Official positions of SASB are determined only after extensive due process and deliberations.