ESG & Sustainability Advisory · Saudi Arabia
ESG advisory for the Kingdom, built on what investors actually expect.
SRR helps businesses in Saudi Arabia scope, structure, and report ESG: from the Saudi Exchange ESG Disclosure Guidelines to sustainability reporting aligned with GRI, SASB, and TCFD, and preparation towards IFRS S1 and S2, led by qualified practitioners.
The short answer
What does ESG and sustainability advisory in Saudi Arabia involve?
ESG advisory in Saudi Arabia covers four things: working out what drives the requirement, usually the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) ESG Disclosure Guidelines for listed companies or an investor mandate; running a materiality assessment to fix what is worth reporting; preparing a sustainability report aligned to a recognised framework; and structuring the governance to own it. The Tadawul guidelines, published in 2021, are voluntary and referenced to GRI and SASB rather than IFRS S1 and S2.
Disclosure is currently voluntary, but investor expectations, Vision 2030, and the Saudi Green Initiative are pushing companies to report in practice, and regulators have signalled a future move towards IFRS S1 and S2 (ISSB). SRR is a management and business advisory consultancy and is not a licensed audit firm.
Source: Saudi Exchange ESG Disclosure Guidelines. Checked 8 September 2026.
- Tadawul ESG guidelines
- 2021
- The Saudi Exchange published ESG Disclosure Guidelines in 2021, expanded from a 2019 version and aligned to GRI and SASB. Disclosure is currently voluntary.
- Framework basis
- GRI, SASB, TCFD
- The guidelines reference GRI, SASB, and TCFD. IFRS S1 and S2 (ISSB) are not yet mandated in the Kingdom, though regulators have signalled that as the direction.
- National context
- Saudi Green Initiative
- The Saudi Green Initiative targets net zero by 2060, and Vision 2030 is driving investor and stakeholder demand for credible ESG data.
What We Handle
ESG, from first scoping to a report that holds up.
One senior team takes ESG from working out what applies through to a measured, framework aligned report and the governance to keep it running year after year.
- ESG scoping: whether the driver is Tadawul disclosure, an investor mandate, or a voluntary programme
- Materiality and double-materiality assessment
- Baseline data collection and a gap analysis against the chosen framework
- Sustainability report preparation aligned to GRI, SASB, and TCFD
- Alignment mapping towards IFRS S1 and S2 for entities preparing ahead of any mandate
- Greenhouse gas inventory scoping across Scope 1, 2, and 3 boundaries
- ESG governance: roles, policies, and board and committee oversight
- Readiness for external assurance where an investor or regulator later requires it
Who It Is For
Where businesses usually come to us on ESG.
You are a Tadawul-listed company
Investors and index providers expect an ESG disclosure aligned to the Saudi Exchange guidelines, and there is no baseline, boundary, or framework behind the numbers yet.
An investor or lender is asking for ESG data
A shareholder, a PIF-linked partner, or a bank wants sustainability metrics as a condition of capital, and the request has arrived before any reporting structure exists.
You want to prepare before it is mandatory
A business deciding to build ESG credibility ahead of a likely move to IFRS S1 and S2, so that when the mandate lands the groundwork is already done.
You have a report but it does not hold up
An existing ESG statement that is narrative rather than measured, or not aligned to any recognised framework, and will not survive scrutiny from an investor or an assurer.
How It Works
A clear path from materiality to a defensible report.
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Scope and materiality
We establish which requirements and expectations apply to your entity, and run a materiality assessment to fix what is actually worth reporting to your business and its stakeholders.
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Baseline and gap
We collect the underlying data, map it to the chosen framework, set the reporting boundaries, and identify exactly where the gaps are before drafting anything.
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Report and structure
We prepare the sustainability report and put the governance in place, roles, policies, and oversight, so the numbers have owners and the report can be defended.
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Keep it current
We build the reporting into an annual rhythm, ready for tighter standards as the Kingdom moves towards IFRS S1 and S2, so each year builds on the last rather than starting over.
What Goes Wrong
The ESG mistakes that undo the whole exercise.
Most ESG reports that fail do not fail on ambition. They fail on the same few gaps, and every one of them is avoidable.
Treating the Tadawul guidelines as the finish line
The Saudi Exchange guidelines are voluntary and referenced to GRI and SASB. Meeting them is a strong start, but it is not the same as being IFRS S1 and S2 ready, which is the direction regulators have signalled.
A narrative with no measurement
An ESG report that reads well but carries no KPIs, no baseline year, and no reporting boundary is not a report an investor or an index provider will credit.
Skipping the materiality assessment
Reporting on everything and nothing, rather than on what is actually material to the business and its stakeholders, produces a document that is long and unconvincing.
Treating ESG as a document, not a structure
Without named owners, policies, and board oversight, the report is a one-off exercise that cannot be repeated the following year or defended when questioned.
Common Questions
ESG and sustainability advisory, answered.
Is ESG reporting mandatory in Saudi Arabia?
Not yet for most companies. The Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) published ESG Disclosure Guidelines in 2021, expanded from a 2019 version, and disclosure against them is currently voluntary. That said, investor and index-provider expectations, Vision 2030, and the Saudi Green Initiative are pushing listed and larger companies to report in practice, and the regulators have signalled a future move towards IFRS S1 and S2.
What frameworks do the Tadawul ESG guidelines follow?
The Saudi Exchange guidelines are referenced to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). They are not the same as IFRS S1 and S2, so a company aligned to the Tadawul metrics is not automatically ISSB ready.
Should we prepare for IFRS S1 and S2 now?
If you are a listed company, a large corporate, or you raise capital from investors who use ISSB-aligned reporting, preparing early is sensible. IFRS S1 and S2 are not yet mandated in the Kingdom, but the direction of travel across the region points that way, and the data systems and governance take time to build. We map your current position and close the gap in stages rather than waiting for a deadline.
What is a materiality assessment, and why does it come first?
A materiality assessment identifies which environmental, social, and governance topics are actually significant to your business and its stakeholders, and, under double materiality, which of your impacts on the outside world are significant too. It comes first because it decides what the report covers. Without it, an ESG report tends to say a lot about topics that do not matter and little about the ones that do.
Can you help a private company that is not listed?
Yes. Private and family businesses build sustainability credibility ahead of any mandate, for example when an investor, lender, or Vision 2030 partner asks for ESG data. We scope the same way, starting from what is material and what a recognised framework requires, rather than from a listing obligation.
Who delivers the ESG work, and what is SRR’s role?
SRR Consultants is a management and business advisory consultancy. ESG and sustainability advisory, readiness, materiality, reporting, and governance, is led by SRR’s own qualified practitioners. SRR is not a licensed audit firm, so where external assurance over the ESG report is required, that assurance sits with a separately registered firm.
Part of our advisory and assurance practice in Saudi Arabia. For the Bahrain equivalent and the CBB ESG module, see ESG advisory in Bahrain. Starting out? See where to begin, with the ESG materiality assessment.
Scope your ESG reporting properly.
A short call with a senior practitioner is the quickest way to work out what applies to you, what is material, and what a credible, defensible report actually needs.