The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has released the Implementation Alignment Guide between SASB Standards and IFRS S2, addressing the caliber conflicts faced by enterprises when complying with both ISSB's sustainability disclosure standards and SASB's industry-specific standards. The guide clarifies unified handling rules for 12 key difference points in climate-related disclosures, including "Scope 3 emission accounting boundaries", "carbon price assumption selection", and "transition risk quantification methods". Meanwhile, it provides example templates for 8 industries such as finance, energy, and manufacturing, helping enterprises reduce the cost of dual disclosure. Prior to this, the interoperability guide between Europe's ESRS and IFRS S standards had been launched, and the collaboration between ISSB and SASB this time will further promote the convergence of global sustainable accounting standards.
From the perspective of industry practice background, SASB Standards have previously accumulated extensive application foundation in industry-specific disclosure requirements, while ISSB's IFRS S standards focus on a globally unified sustainable information disclosure framework. The caliber differences between the two have put transnational enterprises in a dilemma of "repetitive disclosure and inconsistent calibers". Especially in the field of climate-related information disclosure, problems such as ambiguous Scope 3 emission accounting boundaries and lack of unified standards for carbon price assumptions not only increase enterprises' disclosure costs but also reduce the comparability of information among different entities. The newly released alignment guide accurately targets this pain point and provides clear operational guidelines for enterprises by clarifying unified handling rules for 12 core difference points.
In terms of implementation support, the example templates for 8 key industries are of great practical value. Taking the energy industry as an example, the guide clarifies the accounting boundaries of the upstream raw material extraction link in the supply chain for Scope 3 emissions of oil and gas extraction enterprises, and also provides a reference framework for carbon price assumption selection, offering flexible adjustment plans in combination with policy requirements in different regions; for the financial industry, it focuses on standardizing the quantitative indicators and disclosure formats of transition risks in green credit business, helping financial institutions accurately disclose climate-related financial risks. These specific guidelines will greatly lower the threshold for enterprises to apply the standards and improve disclosure efficiency and information quality.
From the perspective of the global standard convergence process, the collaboration between ISSB and SASB this time is of milestone significance. Previously, the alignment between Europe's ESRS and IFRS S standards has laid the foundation for global sustainable standard collaboration, and SASB Standards have a large number of enterprise users in North America, Asia-Pacific and other regions. The release of this guide will further integrate global sustainable disclosure standard resources and reduce regional standard barriers. Industry experts point out that with the implementation of various alignment guides, global sustainable accounting disclosure will gradually move away from the stage of "multiple parallel standards and fragmented disclosure", providing investors with more comparable sustainable information and a more unified reference for enterprises to formulate sustainable development strategies.
Published on December 8, 2025
