4. SASB: Strong associations with Harvard University
Copyright SASB 2011, all rights reserved. 3
In 2010, HBS Professor Robert Eccles and Mike Krzus published a book called
“One Report”, calling for companies to integrate reporting of financial and
nonfinancial performance in a single report. Professor Eccles is the Chairman
of SASB’s Board.
Also in 2010, Steve Lydenberg, head of the Initiative for Responsible
Investment at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, co-authored a
paper on industry based KPIs with Jean Rogers, the Executive Director of SASB.
Steve Lydenberg is on SASB’s Board, and the IRI will assist with research on
materiality and convene SASB’s Standards Council for 2 years.
Jean Rogers, the Executive Director of SASB, is a former Loeb Fellow at Harvard
University.
SASB has a strong history of relationships with Harvard Business
School and Kennedy School of Government which will enhance the
credibility of SASB and its founding partners and sponsors.
5. SASB: A Big Idea for Capital Markets Infrastructure
Copyright SASB 2011, all rights reserved. 4
The sustainability equivalent of GAAP for financials: a complete,
benchmarkable, auditable, enforceable set of industry specific
KPIs to characterize sustainability performance
Accelerating the development of sustainability KPIs through
rapid prototype process
Applicable to all 35,000 publicly listed US companies
A new model for technology based standards development
A new model for engagement with stakeholders
A new model for sustainable non-profits
Bringing together financial data and critical sustainability data for the
improved functioning of capital markets in a resource constrained
world.
7. Technology based standards development
Copyright SASB 2011, all rights reserved. 6
SASB will leverage technology throughout the standards development
process, to promote broad participation, efficiency, and transparency
Develop KPIs Test KPIs Disseminate
standards
Best practices in
performance
measurement
will be crowd
sourced and
vetted with
industry
expertise from
corporations,
analysts, industry
associations, and
NGOs that cover
specific
industries
Backtesting will
determine
materiality and
effectiveness and
correlation with
financial metrics
Develop
materiality
map
Web crawling
technologies will
assist with
understanding one
aspect of materiality
by evaluating the
frequency of
occurrence of issues
within an industry as
reported by the
media and peers
Develop
KPIs
Web platform
will enable
broad
dissemination
and promotion
of standards
for use by all
35,000
publicly listed
companies in
the US
9. SASB meets the needs of investors and companies, enabling them to speak
the same language of sustainability and work towards the common goal of
creating value
Investors
SASB enables companies to focus on the
material sustainability issues most likely to
create short and long term value.
SASB provides a cost effective way to report on
material issues across the triple bottom line.
SASB levels the playing field, requiring all
companies within an industry to report on the
same things in the same way
SASB is the definitive source regarding material
issues to be included in mandatory filings such
as the Form 10-K- thereby eliminating corporate
liability for disclosure
SASB eliminates the need for investor
questionnaires for the vast majority of investors
SASB reduces the need for companies to define
supply chain impacts, because supply chain
company industries are also addressed
Companies
SASB enables investors to focus on material
issues to ensure fiduciary duty.
SASB “floats all the boats,” solving the problem
of universal ownership
SASB enhances the competitiveness of US
companies, thereby creating long term value
SASB generates actual performance data to
inform investment models and strategy
SASB’s materiality map by industry allows
investors to tilt or weight their portfolios
according to the desired exposure to ESG issues
SASB eliminates costs of obtaining ESG data on
companies, as it will be available in Form 10-K
SASB enables benchmarking by industry peers
SASB allows investors to spot impacts and
opportunities from ESG positioning
SASB supports institutional, retail, SRI and
mainstream investors, providing open access to
material ESG information
For the benefit of all types of For the benefit of publicly listed
14. The Sustainability Standards Accounting Board (SASB) will develop and disseminate industry-
based sustainability performance indicators suitable for disclosure, performance management,
and benchmarking. SASB will focus on material sustainability issues and be developed through a
technology-led stakeholder process relying on a vetted network of industry experts. It will
address all industries and target the 35,000 publicly listed US companies as users. The
sustainability KPIs will be designed for integrated reporting in standard disclosure formats such as
the SEC Form 10-K, enabling a complete view of financial and sustainability performance and
comparison between companies within a sector. A sustainable business model for SASB will
support the technical offering. The industry sustainability standards will be offered free for the
public good, but their commercial use will be licensed. Implementation of SASB and use of the
standards by US corporations and their investors will improve the competitiveness of US industry
on the most pressing sustainability challenges facing industry and society today.
Copyright SASB 2011, all rights reserved. 13
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
www.sasb.org