IWA 48:2024

Framework for implementing environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles

Scope

This document provides a high-level framework and set of principles to give guidance on how to implement and embed environmental, social and governance (ESG) within the culture of an organization to support management of ESG performance, measurement and reporting, enabling consistency, comparability and reliability of ESG reporting and practices globally.
This document provides guidance that identifies high-level principles and thinking that cover all elements of ESG, thus providing integrated solutions, with measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) to support the evaluation of maturity levels within the organization.
This document is applicable to a wide range of organizations of all types and sizes across the globe including SMEs and organizations in low- and middle-income countries. It is complementary and interoperable with existing voluntary and regulatory reporting frameworks to facilitate global harmonization and alignment on ESG principles and approaches and is not in itself a reporting framework.