UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) - Last Updated: February 25, 2026
The United Kingdom (UK), along with the EU, has some of the world's most advanced corporate and investor sustainability laws and reporting standards. The UK government is adapting additional policy steps to support its Net Zero 2050 targets. The UK has been a strong supporter of the ISSB since its launch at COP26 and is creating UK SRS by assessing and endorsing the global baseline of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. We’ve prepared this guide to summarize the upcoming UK SRS, what they are, and what they mean for organisations in 2026 and beyond.
The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS)
The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) set out corporate disclosures on sustainability-related risks and opportunities that companies face. UK SRS will form the basis of any future requirements in UK legislation or regulation for companies to report on sustainability matters, including climate change. The standards are the UK versions of IFRS S1 (General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), which the ISSB published on 26 June 2023.
The UK government released UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 on February 25, 2026, as part of efforts to develop a standardised oversight regime for assurance of sustainability-related financial disclosures. Subsequently, the UK government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will consider whether to introduce requirements for certain UK entities to report against these standards; the FCA will consult shortly on amendments to the UK Listing Rules. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has written to the FCA (January 2026) regarding next steps and implementation, including transitional relief. UK SRS are based on the IFRS® Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the ISSB.
Following the creation and publication of the UK SRS, the standards will be adopted into legal and regulatory reporting requirements for UK entities. According to the UK government:
"Decisions to require [SRS] disclosure [by companies] will be taken independently by the UK government"
By using the ISSB standards as a baseline, the objective is to help UK companies disclose internationally consistent sustainability information for investors, regulators, and other capital markets participants.
UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) Disclosure Requirements
As of early 2026, formal mandatory reporting requirements for UK entities to report under UK SRS are still being finalised; the standards are being published for voluntary use first. Existing obligations remain, including Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) and FCA TCFD-aligned disclosures. The government and FCA will consider whether to require certain UK entities to report against UK SRS after the voluntary standards are available. Given the UK's commitment to a "world-leading sustainable finance framework" and the November 2024 ambition for economically significant companies to disclose using UK SRS, SECR- and FCA-eligible companies should consider early adoption of the ISSB/UK SRS approach.
The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards align with and build on SECR, TCFD (now incorporated into IFRS S2), and ESOS, into a coherent set of annual sustainability disclosures that will include, subject to transition reliefs and any UK legal or regulatory requirements:
- ISSB S1 and S2 (which now incorporates TCFD) reporting, including Scope 3 emissions. UK SRS S2 Appendix C4 also introduces a transition relief under which entities applying the Standard are not required to disclose Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions (including financed emissions) in initial application periods, subject to UK law, FCA rules, and other regulatory requirements.
- Additional non-climate sustainability and ESG reporting disclosure
- A detailed transition plan outlining the submitter’s path to net zero emissions
UK SRS are now the definitive UK sustainability reporting standard and may in future be complemented by a UK Green Taxonomy, similar to EU sustainability legislation.
UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) Implementation and Governance
The UK has established two committees to support UK SRS: the independent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Policy and Implementation Committee (PIC). The TAC, supported by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), assesses IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards on a technical basis and provides recommendations on endorsement to the Business and Trade Secretary. The TAC provided its final report and recommendations in December 2024, recommending that IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 be endorsed for UK use with some minor amendments; the government reflected these in the consultation on the exposure drafts of UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2. The PIC coordinates implementation and includes representatives from the Bank of England, DESNZ, Defra, DWP, FCA, FRC, HM Treasury, FCDO, and the UK Endorsement Board. For the latest timeline and official guidance, see UK Sustainability Reporting Standards on GOV.UK. The ISSB S1 and S2 standards (and TCFD, which is incorporated into S2) are already available, so UK SRS will align with this global baseline rather than introduce wholly new disclosure concepts.
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Both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and around the world, there are a lot of new and evolving sustainability disclosure legislation going into effect in 2025 and future years. In fairness, it can feel very complex and daunting. However, from a positive perspective:
- UK SRS were recently published on February 25, 2026, with any mandatory requirements to be decided by the government and FCA thereafter, allowing time to prepare
- UK regulators recognize they're at the forefront of global economic sustainable transition, and are looking to help UK companies successfully adopt and implement the ISSB and UK SRS standards
- There's plenty of time to implement the necessary measures, standards, process changes, data collection, and reporting capabilities to keep pace - particularly for organisations who are proactive and already investing in these areas (or starting soon)
- There are lots of existing market resources to help organisations and investors track, manage, and report around these changes more efficiently and effectively, including Brightest's software and services
For organisations in the early stages of their UK sustainability reporting journey, we have a few general recommendations, additional reading, and suggested next steps:
Materiality assessment - The principle of Materiality is embedded in both the ISSB standards and most UK climate disclosure and sustainability laws, particularly within TCFD and the concept of double materiality. Materiality essentially asks and attempts to answer a fundamental question: what are the most important (re: material) ESG, climate, and sustainability risks and considerations for a business or investment? And what is the relationship between material sustainability and material financial impacts, risks, and opportunities. If your organisation hasn't already done so, a materiality assessment can help determine what your top sustainability goals, targets, risks, and priorities should be in relation to regulatory and investor sustainability reporting. In turn, this can help clarify where to focus, what to prioritize, and what aspects of pending or forthcoming UK and/or EU sustainability legislation matter most to your organisation.
Understand the ISSB S1 and S2 standards in depth - A full, in-depth breakdown of the ISSB standards is outside the scope of this piece, but it is critical that, if your organisation expects to fall under mandatory UK sustainability disclosure eligibility in the coming years, you work with your leadership, directors, legal counsel, auditors, and other stakeholders to learn your organisation's specific obligations under each law, as well as how to effectively report under the applicable standards.
Sustainability data systems and process - While this might go without saying, in order to disclose your organisation's sustainability performance, you need to know what it is - with a high degree of accuracy. Your materiality process can help guide you toward the main sustainability themes you may need to focus on and collect data around. Is employee travel a big source of your organisation's carbon footprint? Facilities? Manufacturing sites? Where does that data exist today, and how will you access or collect it? Many organisations start their sustainability disclosure preparations with relatively simple spreadsheets, surveys, and documents, but things can get complex fast - particularly for larger companies. If you're an organisation with a medium-to-large or complex environmental footprint, you likely need dedicated sustainability reporting and data management software, like the kind we design here at Brightest to help organisations stay compliant with SECR, TCFD, and other UK sustainability disclosure standards. Ongoing report archiving, version control, audit readiness, and governance are also important to think about, since you'll be reporting every year.
Further reading - Our free guides to sustainability measurement and sustainability reporting provide additional, detailed guidance and insights on how to measure and report your sustainability performance for voluntary or future mandatory UK sustainability disclosures.