What is the ISSB?
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) is the standards-setting body established by the IFRS Foundation in November 2021 to develop a global baseline of sustainability disclosure standards for capital markets. ISSB sits alongside the IASB (which sets IFRS Accounting Standards) and operates under the same Foundation governance. Its first two standards — IFRS S1 (General Requirements) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures) — were issued in June 2023 and became effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
ISSB mission and approach
- Investor-focused: standards designed to meet the needs of capital market participants.
- Financial materiality: ISSB standards apply enterprise value lens — risks and opportunities that affect company value.
- Building-blocks approach: jurisdictions can add additional reporting (e.g., EU’s CSRD double materiality) on top of the ISSB baseline.
- Global comparability: reduces patchwork sustainability reporting across markets.
ISSB vs. CSRD/ESRS
- ISSB: financial materiality only (single materiality from value perspective).
- CSRD/ESRS: double materiality — financial + impact materiality.
- Interoperability work underway to allow companies to satisfy both with structured supplementary disclosures.
Türk şirketleri için
ISSB standartları SPK ve KGK tarafından Türkiye için adapte edilmektedir. KAP’taki sürdürülebilirlik raporlaması ISSB IFRS S1/S2 uyumlu olacak şekilde evrilmekte; halka açık Türk şirketleri için zorunlu uygulama 2025’ten itibaren kademeli olarak başlar.
Do: align sustainability reporting program to ISSB baseline; build extensions for jurisdiction-specific requirements like CSRD.
Don’t: treat ISSB as ESG marketing — investor uptake depends on the same audit-grade rigor as financial statements.