TISFD News

TISFD’s Conceptual Foundations, once finalised, will establish key terms, definitions and concepts to enable different stakeholders to speak the same language when discussing inequality- and social-related issues. 

Bringing together and building on existing frameworks, they aim to clarify the relationships between business, finance, people and inequality, including how these interact with climate and nature. 

They will provide a basis from which to develop a disclosure framework for reporting inequality- and social-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities--a beta version of which will be released by TISFD in Spring 2026. 

Published as a discussion paper, stakeholders will be able to review and provide input to the Conceptual Foundations through a series of targeted engagement events being organised by TISFD between November and December 2025.

Ana Beatriz Costa, Vice President, Sustainability, Legal, Reputation and Corporate Communication, Natura

“Complexity is one of the challenges facing businesses who want to address social risks and opportunities. Through its Conceptual Foundations, TISFD is seeking to establish a common language for different stakeholders to build shared understanding of the relationships between business, finance, people and inequalities.”

Takeshi Kimura, Special Advisor to the Board, Nippon Life Insurance

“High and persistent inequalities present system-level risks. Through its Conceptual Foundations, TISFD aims to describe the ways in which these system-level risks arise, to support common understanding. Once finalised, they will provide a credible frame of reference to develop disclosure recommendations that help us understand exposure to these risks—and opportunities.” 

Sharan Burrow, Co-Chair, TISFD

“TISFD's Conceptual Foundations, once finalised, will bring much needed clarity and coherence to how social and inequality related issues are understood and addressed. They should lay the foundations for a disclosure framework that will bring social and inequality issues to the heart of financial and business decision-making.” 

Sharmeen Contractor, Investor Engagement and Advocacy Lead, Oxfam America

“TISFD's Conceptual Foundations discussion paper is an opportunity for stakeholders to start to shape a global framework that ensures social and inequality issues are properly understood. Meaningful disclosures underpin mechanisms which enable rightsholders to hold business and financial institutions accountable for their impacts on people.”