Sustainability Reporting

Global Sustainability Reporting Standards

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): The most widely used standard globally, offering a comprehensive framework for reporting on a wide range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

• Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): Provided industry-specific standards focused on financially material ESG factors. Now consolidated under the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

• International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB): A recent initiative by the IFRS Foundation aimed at developing a global baseline for sustainability disclosures. The ISSB has released two standards:

  • S1: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information: Sets out overall requirements for disclosing sustainability-related financial information, including the identification and assessment of sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

  • S2: Climate-related Disclosures: Provides specific requirements for disclosing climate-related risks and opportunities, including how they are identified, assessed, and managed. It incorporates recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Indian Sustainability Reporting Landscape

• Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR): Introduced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2021, BRSR mandates sustainability reporting for India's top 1000 listed companies. It covers various ESG topics and encourages companies to disclose their sustainability performance and impacts.

• BRSR Lite: A lighter version of BRSR for listed companies beyond the top 1000. It focuses on essential ESG indicators and aims to increase reporting requirements gradually.

• BRSR Core: A more stringent version of BRSR where Reasonable Assurance  is expected

• BRSR Cross-reference tool -NSE: To help the listed entities understand the updated disclosure requirements and concepts associated with the new format of the BRSR, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), in association with Stakeholder Empowerment Services (SES), has conceptualized 38 sector specific integrated guides to the BRSR format. These comprehensive guides provide a detailed explanation of each parameter in the format and the objective for such disclosures, along with elaborate guidance on how to measure and report such parameters.

Unique Features

• Specific guides for 38 sub-sectors of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), along with a sector agnostic integrated guide

• Mapped to SEBI’s Standardized Industry Classification System

• Mapped to five Global Reporting Frameworks (GRI, SDG, TCFD, CDP & SASB)

• Guidance based on the proprietary SES ESG Model

• Guidance on reporting disclosures for three Steps of Excellence:

  • Mandatory Disclosures (Essential BRSR Indicators)

  • Voluntary Disclosures (Leadership BRSR Indicators)\

  • Sector Specific Disclosures (As per Global Best Practices

• RBI's Climate Disclosure Guidelines: These guidelines are crucial for aligning India's financial sector with global best practices on climate risk disclosure. They aim to strengthen the resilience of the financial system to climate-related risks and facilitate informed decision-making. The inclusion of the ISSB standards (S1 and S2) in these guidelines will further enhance the quality and comparability of climate-related disclosures in India.