12 June, 2026

The “S” in ESG has always got less attention than its close neighbour “E”. Social issues are less straightforward to report on than environmental ones, the questions harder to frame and the outcomes harder to standardise, and companies have often struggled to know where to begin.

A new framework sets out to change that: the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD) recently published the beta version of its recommendations, setting out how businesses and financial institutions should report on their impacts and dependencies on people.

The argument in favour of standardised disclosures here is clear, as inequalities sit at modern-day highs, with around a billion working people not earning enough for a decent living, while AI and the climate transition are reshaping access to secure work and income. The framework’s emphasis is, however, firmly on the business case for addressing these issues: companies rely on people to operate, grow and innovate, an ever-larger share of value now sits in human and social capital, and these dynamics are often too poorly understood to be managed or priced well.

Launched in early 2025, TISFD is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative encouraging practices that build stronger, more resilient economies. It follows the TCFD on climate and the TNFD on nature, two taskforces that moved their respective topics into mainstream sustainability reporting. TNFD showed how quickly things can shift, taking nature from niche concern to boardroom agenda within a couple of years.

Structurally, TISFD will feel familiar to anyone who has worked with its predecessors. It uses the same four pillars (governance, strategy, impact and risk management, metrics and targets) and draws on the ISSB, GRI and CSRD standards rather than competing with them. The scope of “inequality” is broad, spanning income and wealth, health, housing, work, voice and access to services, alongside collective dimensions such as social cohesion and cultural identity.

Much of the framework’s value is still to come, with the Taskforce flagging guidance on system-level risk, scenario analysis, and metrics and targets as priorities for future iterations, including an initial core set of metrics. These additions will help companies move from recognising people-related issues to measuring and acting on them, bringing the depth and methodological grounding that gives reports real substance.

This is a first draft, with a consultation running until 31 July 2026 and the final framework expected in 2027. TISFD itself is new, but much of what underpins it is not, drawing on long-established foundations like the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD due diligence guidance, foundations we can help you build on.

By Mariana Garcia