This trailblazer shows how sustainability reporting should shape corporate strategy

The document examines how the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards enable companies to move beyond regulatory compliance by embedding sustainability into financial reporting and core business strategy. Using Emirates NBD as a case study—the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa to publish an ISSB-aligned report—the text highlights how early adoption can enhance investor confidence and brand reputation. It provides practical recommendations for chief sustainability officers, including conducting double materiality assessments, leveraging automated reporting technology, and integrating financial and non-financial data governance to drive long-term value creation.

• Adopting ISSB standards helps companies integrate sustainability into their core business strategies, shifting the process from a mere compliance exercise to a strategic tool for long-term value creation.
• Emirates NBD is the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to publish a sustainability report aligned with ISSB standards that includes assured financed emissions, which refers to the carbon footprint of the bank's loans and investments.
• Effective ISSB-aligned reporting involves weaving sustainability into risk management and overall strategy through value chain assessments, enhanced board oversight, and the use of climate scenario analysis to test business resilience across different temperature pathways.
• Chief sustainability officers are advised to adopt an integrated approach to data governance, specifically by conducting double materiality assessments—which evaluate impacts on the company, people, and the environment—and leveraging finance teams' internal control frameworks for non-financial reporting.
• The ISSB framework is designed to be a global baseline that maintains interoperability with other regulations, such as the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards.

APA

Bayley, E., & Bains, V. (2025). This trailblazer shows how sustainability reporting should shape corporate strategy. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/how-sustainability-reporting-should-shape-corporate-strategy/

Chicago

Bayley, Emily, and Vijay Bains. This trailblazer shows how sustainability reporting should shape corporate strategy. World Economic Forum, 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/how-sustainability-reporting-should-shape-corporate-strategy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bayley |first1=Emily |last2=Bains |first2=Vijay |title=This trailblazer shows how sustainability reporting should shape corporate strategy |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=24 March 2025 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/how-sustainability-reporting-should-shape-corporate-strategy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bayley2025this, author = {Bayley, Emily and Bains, Vijay}, title = {{This trailblazer shows how sustainability reporting should shape corporate strategy}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/sustainable-development/how-sustainability-reporting-should-shape-corporate-strategy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }