Investors with over $1 trillion urge ISSB to prioritise human capital standards

Investors managing over $1 trillion wrote to the ISSB urging it to prioritise global human capital and human rights disclosure standards. As Indian regulators align BRSR with global frameworks, expanded ISSB social-disclosure standards could influence future social-reporting expectations for Indian companies.

A group of investors representing over $1 trillion in assets wrote to the International Sustainability Standards Board urging prioritisation of global reporting standards for human capital and human rights disclosure. The letter, coordinated by NGO ShareAction and signed by 24 asset managers and asset owners, responded to the ISSB's Request for Information on its two-year work plan. The ISSB, established in November 2021, published its initial climate and sustainability standards in June 2023 before consulting on next projects.

The letter affects asset managers, asset owners, and companies that report under or anticipate ISSB-aligned standards. Investors cited high demand for workforce-related and human rights data, intensified by increased employee resignations, layoffs, and COVID-19 labour-market impacts. They argued companies and investors treat human capital and human rights as interconnected, with human rights due diligence serving as a critical tool for identifying labour-related issues, and overlap in areas such as unionisation and diversity and inclusion.

Affected entities should monitor the ISSB's work-plan decisions, as the investors urged a joint research project on disclosing human capital and human rights as an integrated whole. The RFI covered potential projects on biodiversity, ecosystems, human capital, human rights, and integration of sustainability into financial reporting. Indian companies preparing BRSR social disclosures should track ISSB direction, since IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards increasingly inform domestic alignment and may shape future workforce and human rights reporting expectations.

Key figure — Investor coalition size: over $1 trillion in assets, 24 signatories