The ultimate guide to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Global expectations for corporate transparency are growing, and sustainability reporting is becoming a core business requirement.

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) is setting the tone for a unified global framework that helps companies disclose climate-related and sustainability-related information with accuracy and consistency.

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about ISSB standards, including what they are, who they apply to, the key reporting requirements under IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, critical timelines, the risks of non-compliance, and how you can prepare using Pulsora's sustainability software.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to refine your ESG strategy, this guide will equip you with the insights and tools to confidently navigate ISSB reporting.

What is the ISSB?

The International Sustainability Standards Board ISSB was established by the IFRS Foundation, or the International Financial Reporting Standards, to deliver a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability disclosure standards for investors and financial markets.

Its mission is to help companies and stakeholders, giving them high-quality, transparent, and comparable information on sustainability-related risks and opportunities while providing better guidelines for sustainability reporting standards.

ISSB and GRI

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the ISSB serve complementary roles in the sustainability reporting ecosystem.

While the ISSB focuses on information relevant to investors and enterprise value, GRI emphasizes broader impacts on the economy, environment, and society.

In 2022, the two organizations signed a collaboration agreement to align their frameworks where possible, helping companies meet the needs of both financial stakeholders and a wider audience. This alignment allows businesses to streamline dual reporting, leveraging GRI for impact-focused transparency and ISSB for investor-grade disclosures.

ISSB and ESRS

The ISSB and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are both advancing corporate sustainability disclosure, but with different focuses.

ISSB standards are designed to provide information material to investors, focusing on enterprise value, while ESRS—developed under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)—takes a double materiality approach, covering both financial and impact materiality. Despite these differences, efforts are underway to align and harmonize the two frameworks to reduce reporting burden and improve global interoperability. Companies operating in the EU or with EU ties may find themselves needing to report under both standards, making alignment crucial for efficient compliance.

Origins of the ISSB

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) was known for its industry-specific ESG disclosure standards focused on financial materiality. In 2021, SASB standards merged into the Value Reporting Foundation, which was later consolidated into the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards to form the ISSB.

This transition brought SASB’s rich industry guidance and investor-focused approach under the ISSB umbrella, helping shape the development of IFRS S1 and S2. As a result, ISSB standards continue to build on SASB’s legacy, particularly in their emphasis on sector-specific disclosures and financially material sustainability information.

The ISSB was formed in response to the growing demand for consistent, comparable, material information and sustainability-related disclosures across markets and industries. Before its creation, preparers navigated a fragmented landscape of ESG frameworks, each with different focuses, definitions, and metrics.

To address this complexity, the IFRS Foundation consolidated several of the most prominent sustainability reporting initiatives under the ISSB umbrella.

These include:

Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): TCFD recommendations pioneered climate-related financial risk disclosures and is foundational to IFRS S2.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): Known for its industry-specific metrics tied to financial materiality.
Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB): Focused on environmental and climate disclosures within financial reporting.
International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC): Promoted integrated thinking and the connectivity of financial and non-financial information.
International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO): Endorsed the sustainability-related financial disclosure standards.

The establishment of the ISSB marked a pivotal shift toward global alignment, offering a single set of ISSB standards built to integrate with financial reporting.

This consolidation simplifies the reporting process, aids in decision-making, allows companies to move toward net-zero climate change initiatives, monitor greenhouse gas/GHG emissions, and set new standards both internally and industry-wide while preserving the insights and principles that made each original framework valuable.

Why ISSB standards matter

Sustainability disclosures are no longer optional. As regulatory and investor pressure mounts globally, companies are expected to show how climate and sustainability issues affect their business. ISSB standards aim to streamline this by setting a clear, internationally accepted foundation.

With consistent and comparable data:

Investors can make better-informed decisions
Companies reduce the reporting burden from fragmented frameworks
Stakeholders gain visibility into a company’s long-term resilience and strategy

Who needs to comply with ISSB standards?

ISSB standards are designed to be applied globally by:

Public and private companies of all sizes
Companies seeking access to international capital markets
Organizations operating in jurisdictions adopting or endorsing ISSB guidelines

While currently voluntary in many regions, countries including the UK, Canada, Australia, and jurisdictions across the EU and Asia are moving toward mandatory adoption of ISSB reporting requirements.

Furthermore, while companies aren’t yet required to comply with ISSB standards, those who do report to other mandatory regulatory frameworks may opt to report to and comply with ISSB standards. This can set a positive standard to not only investors, but to sustainable-minded consumers.

Key ISSB standards: IFRS S1 and IFRS S2

The ISSB has released two foundational standards that support integrated sustainability reporting. These are designed to be used with general-purpose financial reports, ensuring that sustainability disclosures are presented in a way that connects directly to enterprise value. This allows investors and stakeholders to better understand the financial implications of sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

The standards promote consistency, comparability, and reliability across industries and geographies, offering a common language for companies and investors alike.

To ensure this, standard-setters have released two foundational standards, the IFRS accounting standards:

IFRS S1 general requirements for disclosure of sustainability

Applies to all sustainability topics (not just climate)
Requires disclosure of sustainability-related risks and opportunities relevant to enterprise value
Must be integrated with financial statements

ISSB reporting requirements: What you need to do

To comply with ISSB, you must:

Perform a materiality assessment focused on risks and opportunities impacting enterprise value
Align reporting timelines with financial reporting
Disclose governance structures, strategic decisions, and metrics related to sustainability performance
Maintain data consistency and audit-readiness across your value chain

These ISSB reporting requirements aim to bring sustainability data on par with financial disclosures in terms of accuracy and relevance.

Risks and opportunities: Compliance vs. non-compliance

Because ISSB compliance isn’t yet mandatory in most jurisdictions, the benefits still greatly outweigh the risks of non-compliance.

Benefits of compliance:

Enhanced investor trust and access to global capital
Better risk and opportunity management
Regulatory alignment and proactive positioning

Risks of non-compliance:

Exclusion from sustainable finance opportunities
Regulatory penalties in ISSB-adopting jurisdictions
Reputational damage and diminished stakeholder trust

Key ISSB timelines and global adoption roadmap

June 2023: ISSB released IFRS S1 and IFRS S2
January 2024: Effective date for early adopters
2025-2026: Mandatory adoption expected in several jurisdictions
Jurisdictions adopted IFRS Sustainability Disclosures
- Australia: adopted IFRS S1 and S2 into ASRS S1 (voluntary) and ASRS S2 respectively, effective from FY 2025-26.
- Singapore: SGX incorporated climate-related disclosures for listed companies that apply the requirements of IFRS S2 (other than the disclosure of Scope 3 GHG emissions) starting from FY 2025-26 and consequently apply the climate-relevant provisions in IFRS S1.
- Japan: Japan’s Sustainability Standards Board (SSBJ) plans to issue draft standards aligned with IFRS S1 and S2 in 2024, with adoption expected from FY 2026 or later.
- Canada: Canada’s Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) will consult on adapted versions of IFRS S1 and S2 in 2024, aiming for final standards in 2025 and phased adoption to follow.
Jurisdictions that are in consultation phase to implement IFRS sustainability disclosures
- UK
- South Korea
- Mexico
- India
- Brazil

Governments and regulators worldwide are evaluating ISSB integration into their sustainability reporting regimes. Companies should prepare now to meet future obligations.

5 ways to prepare for ISSB reporting

Here’s how to start your ISSB compliance journey:

Educate internal teams on IFRS S1 and S2 requirements
Map existing disclosures to ISSB standards
Invest in ESG data infrastructure to centralize reporting
Conduct an optional double materiality assessment
Establish cross-functional governance for ESG reporting

How Pulsora helps you prepare for ISSB

Navigating ISSB standards requires more than just compliance. It demands data accuracy, system flexibility, and actionable insights.

Pulsora’s sustainability software management platform is purpose-built to support companies aligning with ISSB by empowering them to move beyond spreadsheets and siloed systems.

Built-in alignment with IFRS S1 & S2

Pulsora’s platform is designed with ISSB alignment at its core, supporting disclosures across general sustainability-related financial information (IFRS S1) and climate-related risks and opportunities (IFRS S2). Our solution helps you:

Map sustainability and climate risks across your operations
Align metrics with industry-specific requirements from ISSB, SASB, and GRI
Produce consistent, decision-useful disclosures for investors

Automated ESG data collection across your value chain

From energy usage and emissions to board diversity and governance controls, Pulsora captures key ISSB-aligned metrics at scale. Whether data is uploaded manually, collected through APIs, or integrated from your ERP and HR systems, our platform ensures:

Seamless aggregation from multiple sources
Configurable workflows for cross-functional collaboration
Real-time tracking and automated reminders to hit reporting deadlines

Audit-ready data with full transparency

ISSB standards emphasize verifiable, traceable data. Every data point in Pulsora comes with built-in audit trails, version history, and supporting documentation. This means you can:

Ensure accountability with trackable changes and approvals
Share transparent disclosures with internal and external stakeholders
Reduce risk during third-party assurance or investor reviews

Accurate analytics and custom dashboards

Go beyond compliance with insights that inform strategy. Pulsora’s dashboards let you monitor sustainability performance, benchmark against peers, and prepare future-facing disclosures, so you can:

Anticipate and respond to evolving investor expectations
Identify gaps and trends across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions
Strengthen ISSB-aligned sustainability strategy and decision-making

Integrated reporting across frameworks

ISSB is quickly becoming the global baseline, but it rarely stands alone. Pulsora helps you streamline reporting across CSRD, SFDR, SEC, and more — avoiding duplication and aligning outputs with stakeholder expectations.

Pulsora and EFRAG: Partnering for global reporting alignment

Pulsora is proud to be a Friend of EFRAG, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. EFRAG works closely with the ISSB to enhance the interoperability between global and EU sustainability disclosure frameworks. Their collaboration supports consistent, streamlined reporting for companies that operate across jurisdictions. As a Friend of EFRAG, Pulsora stays closely connected to these developments, ensuring our platform helps companies stay ahead of evolving standards and achieve compliance with both ISSB and ESRS frameworks.

Pulsora simplifies the path to accurate, reliable, and timely ISSB-aligned reporting—so you can focus on driving impact.

Prepare for future ISSB reporting requirements and mandatory compliance with Pulsora

The International Sustainability Standards Board is transforming how companies disclose sustainability and climate-related risks. With the rise of ISSB standards and global momentum for regulatory alignment, preparing now is a competitive and strategic imperative.

By embracing ISSB reporting requirements and using platforms like Pulsora, companies can lead with transparency, build investor confidence, and future-proof their ESG reporting strategy.

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