ISSB describes the concept of sustainability and its articulation with financial value creation
16 December 2022
The ISSB met on 13-15 December 2022.
In its session on 13 December 2022, the ISSB agreed how to describe sustainability and clarified that a company’s ability to deliver value for its investors is inextricably linked to the stakeholders it works with and serves, the society it operates in, and the natural resources it draws on.
The ISSB further agreed that sustainability will be described in the ISSB’s General Sustainability-related Disclosures Standard (S1) as the ability for a company to sustainably maintain resources and relationships with and manage its dependencies and impacts within its whole business ecosystem over the short, medium and long term. Sustainability is a condition for a company to access over time the resources and relationships needed (such as financial, human, and natural), ensuring their proper preservation, development and regeneration, to achieve its goals.
The ISSB notes that by referring to this articulation of the value creation process, a company will be better placed to explain to its investors how it is working sustainably within its business ecosystem.
The press release by the ISSB may be accessed here.