GRI vs SASB vs ISSB: Which ESG Reporting Standard Should You Use?
If you are choosing between GRI, SASB and ISSB for your sustainability reporting, the honest answer is that they are not really competitors: they answer different questions for different audiences. Picking the right one, or the right combination, starts with knowing who you are reporting to and what they need. This guide explains what each framework does, how they relate, and how to decide.
It helps to be clear on the basics first. Our guide to what ESG means and our walkthrough of how to write an ESG report give the wider context this decision sits within.
GRI: impact and stakeholders
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards are the most widely used sustainability standards in the world. GRI reports an organisation's impacts on the economy, the environment and people, for a broad range of stakeholders including employees, communities, customers and regulators, not just investors. It uses a form of impact materiality: what matters is the significance of your effects on the outside world. If your goal is a rounded, transparent account of your footprint, GRI is usually the backbone.
SASB: financially material, industry by industry
The SASB Standards take a narrower, investor-focused view. They identify the handful of sustainability issues that are financially material within a specific industry, with a different set for each sector, so a bank reports on different topics than a mining company. SASB is prized for being concise and comparable. Importantly, the SASB Standards are now maintained by the ISSB under the IFRS Foundation, so they sit inside the newer global architecture rather than standing apart from it.
ISSB: the global investor baseline
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), part of the IFRS Foundation, issued IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 as a global baseline for investor-focused sustainability and climate disclosure. They consolidate and build on earlier investor frameworks, including SASB and the TCFD climate recommendations. The aim is one common language so that sustainability information sits alongside financial statements and is comparable across markets. Many jurisdictions are moving to adopt or align with ISSB standards.
Where the EU's ESRS fit
If you operate in or sell into the European Union, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive may apply. The ESRS use double materiality, covering both financial impact on the company and the company's impact on the world, which is broader than the ISSB's financial focus. Read our note on UK ESG reporting requirements for the picture closer to home.
How to choose
Start with your audience. If investors and capital markets are the priority, lean on ISSB, using the industry detail in SASB. If you are reporting to a wide set of stakeholders and want to show your impacts, GRI is the natural choice. Most large organisations end up combining them: GRI for impact, ISSB or SASB for financial materiality, and ESRS where EU rules bite. Whatever you pick, be consistent year on year so your reporting is comparable, and tie it back to a clear ESG strategy rather than treating it as a box-ticking exercise.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GRI, SASB and ISSB?
GRI reports an organisation's impacts on the economy, environment and people for a broad set of stakeholders. SASB focuses on the sustainability issues that are financially material to a specific industry. The ISSB sets global, investor-focused standards (IFRS S1 and S2) that build on SASB and the TCFD.
Is SASB still a separate standard?
SASB's standards still exist and are widely used, but the SASB Standards are now maintained by the ISSB under the IFRS Foundation, which took them on after consolidating several investor-focused frameworks. The ISSB encourages companies to use the SASB Standards within IFRS S1 reporting.
Which ESG reporting standard is most widely used?
The GRI Standards are the most widely used sustainability reporting standards globally, especially outside the United States. Many companies use GRI for broad stakeholder reporting alongside a financially focused framework for investors.
Do I have to choose only one standard?
No, and many organisations use more than one. A common approach is GRI for impact and stakeholder reporting, plus ISSB or SASB for the investor-focused, financially material disclosures. In the EU, the ESRS under the CSRD apply on top of this.
What is double materiality?
Double materiality means reporting both how sustainability issues affect the company financially and how the company affects the world. The EU's ESRS use double materiality, whereas the ISSB standards focus on financial materiality for investors.