Topic Standards: economic, environmental and social disclosures
How the Topic Standards are built
Each Topic Standard covers one topic and lists numbered disclosures. The numbering scheme is a reliable memory aid: 201–207 economic, 301–308 environmental, 401–419 social. Within each disclosure there are requirements ("shall"), recommendations ("should") and guidance (explanatory). A Topic Standard is only reported when the topic is material - but once reported, its requirements must be followed.
Content worth memorizing
- Economic: 201-1 direct economic value generated and distributed; 202-1 entry-level wage by gender compared with the local minimum wage; 205-2 anti-corruption communication and training; 205-3 confirmed incidents of corruption; 206-1 legal actions for anti-competitive behaviour; 207-1 approach to tax.
- Environmental: 302-1 energy consumption within the organization; 302-2 energy consumption outside; 303-3 water withdrawal by source; 305-1/2/3 Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions; 305-4 intensity; 306-3 waste generated; 306-4 waste diverted from disposal; 306-5 waste directed to disposal.
- Social: 401-3 parental leave return-to-work and retention rates; 403-9 work-related injuries; 403-10 work-related ill health; 405-1 diversity of governance bodies and employees; 405-2 ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men.
Traps
Scope 2 requires dual reporting: location-based, plus market-based where the organization has contractual instruments. 306-4 counts only waste diverted - waste sent to disposal belongs in 306-5 and must not be double counted. 403-9 injury rates use hours actually worked (per 1,000,000 hours), not headcount.
Worked example: with 6 recordable injuries and 3,000,000 hours worked, the rate is 6 ÷ 3,000,000 × 1,000,000 = 2.0.