Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) is an organization that creates voluntary environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) reporting standards. The organization’s purpose and standards are similar to standards set by the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The standards, adopted by businesses voluntarily, serve as an alternative to government-imposed ESG standards. 1 In June 2021, it was announced that SASB would be merging with nonprofit International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) to form the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF). 2 By August 2022, SASB and VRF had merged with accounting nonprofit International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)and its International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). 3
Contents
Industry Standards
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board provides industry-tailored voluntary ESG reporting standards for the consumer goods, mining, finance, healthcare, infrastructure, environmentalist energy, manufacturing, services, technology, and transportation industries. 4
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board maintains a database of companies that have committed to adopt its ESG reporting standards. 5
Implementation Guidance
Beyond setting frameworks and standards for ESG reporting, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board provides execution guidance for businesses that need assistance organizing their voluntary reporting program. SASB provides guidance on how to establish a foundation for ESG reporting, choosing the right framework and standard, deciding where to disclose reports to, and how to assess readiness for reporting and continuous improvement. 6
Unifying Standard Setting
On July 12, 2020, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and Global Reporting Initiative, another standards-setting organization, announced that they had agreed to collaborate on an understanding that would allow companies to use standards set by both organizations interchangeably for ESG reporting. 7
Agriculture Industry
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board has focused on inquiries into demand for ESG standards within the meat and dairy industry. The advent of artificial meat, as well as dairy alternatives such as soy milk, almond milk, and oat milk, have cut into the agriculture industry’s profits. At least one of the reasons for the switch is concern regarding greenhouse gas emissions associated with the agriculture industry. SASB believes ESG standards may be one path through which the industry can gain back market share by demonstrating adherence to ESG standards or outperforming ESG standards. Given the voluntary nature of the standards, SASB will only design such standards if the agriculture industry agrees that there is a need for these standards. 8
Finances
In 2018 Sustainability Accounting Standards Board received $13,346,723 in contributions and $14,713,085 in total revenue. 9 The same year, the organization possessed $7,268,977 in net assets after accounting for all liabilities. 10
Leadership
Mathew Welch is the president of SASB. Before joining SASB, Welch held senior leadership roles at Kaplan Test Prep and The Rotary Foundation. 11
Financial Statistics
Total Assets
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
Revenue Detail
Expenses Detail
Employee Compensation
- Number of Employees: 59
Highest Earning Employees
Grant Activity
All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:
- Total Grant Value: $30,439,542
- Number of Grants: 84
- Number of Funders: 38
Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years: