Disclose
Climate-related financial disclosures prepared in accordance with UK SRS S2, in the annual financial report or cross-referred from it.
UKLR 6.6.6R(7A)(a)Software · ESG compliance, cited
ESG compliance software: what UK compliance actually asks
ESG compliance software holds sustainability data and produces the disclosures, explanations and evidence a company’s duties require, and in the UK most of those duties are about disclosing, not about being assured.
This page sets out what compliance means duty by duty, how limited and reasonable assurance differ, what audit-ready should mean in a product, and lists 51 ESG reporting and EHS vendors in their own words; this site has tested no products and ranks none.
What ESG compliance software does
Six jobs, from duty to sign-off
ESG compliance software collects sustainability data, ties it to the duty that requires it, and produces the disclosure or explanation owed, with the evidence behind it.
The word “compliance” suggests a pass-or-fail test, but most UK ESG duties are duties to say something in a report, and one of them lets a company explain instead of disclose.
So the software’s real job is traceability: a figure, or an honest statement that a figure is missing, that someone outside the team can follow back to its source.
The same products are sold as ESG reporting software; how the wider market compares against UK duties is on the ESG software comparison.
- 1
Register the duties
Which disclosure, explanation or statement each entity owes, under which rule, by when.
- 2
Collect the data
Energy, emissions, people and governance data, each with its source document attached.
- 3
Keep the evidence
Method, factor, boundary and every change, recorded as the work happens.
- 4
Disclose or explain
The figure, or a statement of what is missing, why and what is planned.
- 5
Support any assurance
A scoped view a practitioner can sample, and the statement about the engagement.
- 6
Approve and publish
Board approval of the report it sits in, then the published text and any filing format.
What “compliance” means
Duty by duty, a different kind of obligation
There is no single UK ESG compliance duty; there are several duties of different kinds, each reaching its own population.
SECR, under Schedule 7, and the non-financial and sustainability information statement, under section 414CB, are duties to disclose.
UK SRS, for listed companies under the FCA’s PS26/19, is a duty to disclose or explain, and the standards remain voluntary for every other entity.
Assurance appears only as a statement a listed company makes about whether it obtained any, which is the opposite of a duty to obtain it.
Read the register of duties
| Duty | Kind | Who | Assurance required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| SECR · SI 2008/410 Sch 7 | Disclose | Quoted companies; large unquoted companies and LLPs exceeding two of £36m turnover, £18m balance sheet and 250 employees | No |
| Non-financial and sustainability information statement · CA 2006 s.414CB | Disclose | Traded, banking and insurance companies for the s.414CB(1) matters; the climate limbs reach a wider population | No |
| UK SRS · UKLR 6.6.6R(7A), (7B) · PS26/19 | Comply or explain | Companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22; periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 | No — a statement of whether it was obtained, UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d) |
| UK SRS · voluntary | By choice | Any other entity | No |
| CSRD · Directive 2013/34/EU as amended | Report, with limited assurance | EU-scope undertakings above 1,000 employees and €450m turnover, from financial years beginning 1 January 2027 | Yes, limited, under EU law |
| UK ETS · SI 2020/1265 | Verified report | Operators of covered installations, aircraft and maritime operators | Verification by a UKAS-accredited verifier |
| Anti-greenwashing rule · FCA ESG 4.3.1R | Conduct | All FCA-authorised firms | Not applicable |
The SECR size test is framed as “not more than” qualifying conditions on the exempt side, judged over two consecutive years after the first, and who is in scope is on SECR reporting requirements.
The rows simplify; each instrument decides who is in and what is owed.
Kinds of ESG obligationExplore
Module 01 / 05
Disclose
SECR lines in the directors’ report; s.414CB statements in the strategic report.
Module 02 / 05
Comply or explain
UK SRS for companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, from periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Module 03 / 05
State
Whether assurance was obtained, and if so its provider, scope, level and standards.
Module 04 / 05
Verify
UK ETS: a regulated emissions report checked by a UKAS-accredited verifier.
Module 05 / 05
Do not mislead
Conduct rules on claims: the FCA anti-greenwashing rule and the DMCC Act.
UK SRS for listed companies
Comply or explain, and what an explanation must hold
For companies listed in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, the FCA’s final rules adopt “a comply or explain approach across the UK SRS”, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with first reporting in 2028.
Under UKLR 6.6.6R(7A) in PS26/19 Appendix 1, a company either discloses against UK SRS S2 or sets out a summary of the requirements not met, the reasons, and the steps it is taking or plans to take.
For UK SRS S1, the explanation under (7B) runs by the sustainability-related risks and opportunities not disclosed, rather than requirement by requirement.
Nothing in UK SRS becomes mandatory for these companies, and the rules and their reliefs are set out on the FCA’s UK SRS rules.
Read what software has to hold for an explanation
The FCA’s draft Technical Note 803.1, open for consultation until 28 October 2026, proposes that an explanation can be short and proportionate but should not omit material information.
It proposes that no timeframe is required and that the rules do not require an explanation for each unmet requirement, though the explanation could name the headings or paragraphs not disclosed.
It also proposes that an issuer cannot make an explicit and unreserved statement of compliance with a UK SRS standard if it explains that it has not met one or more of its requirements.
UK SRS S1 ¶73A, in the standard itself, adds that a company using the climate-first relief is not permitted to assert compliance with UK SRS S1, though it may assert compliance with UK SRS S2 while disclosing the reliefs it used.
In software terms, the requirement list has to carry a status per requirement — met, explained, or relieved — so the statement of compliance, if any, follows from the record rather than from a drafting choice.
The standards are set out on UK SRS S1 and S2; for every entity outside the five categories they are voluntary, in the government’s own guidance.
UK SRS S2
requirement
requirement
Explain
A summary of the requirements not met, the reasons, and any steps taken or planned to make the disclosures in future.
UKLR 6.6.6R(7A)(b)(i)–(iii)The assurance statement
UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d): say whether, and if so, four things
A listed company states “whether or not” it has obtained third-party assurance over any of its UK SRS disclosures or explanations, under UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d) as made by PS26/19.
If it has, it names the provider, which disclosures were assured and to what level, the assurance standards used, and where any published report can be found.
The FCA said it would “retain the proposal to simply disclose the sustainability assurance standards used”, to keep flexibility for issuers, and over 90% of respondents to that question supported the proposal.
Read what the FCA did not require
The FCA will not require a private assurance opinion to be published, and it is “not requiring explanations in the absence of assurance being sought”, in its response in PS26/19.
Respondents’ views on any future requirement — that limited assurance would be more feasible than reasonable, and that Scope 3 and narrative disclosures might come later — are recorded as feedback; the FCA proposed nothing on them.
In software terms the statement needs an engagement record: provider, scope by disclosure, level, standard and report location, kept beside the disclosures it covers.
The assurance market and its providers are set out on sustainability assurance.
(i) Provider
NameThe third-party assurance provider(ii) Scope and level
Which · how farWhich disclosures were assured, and to what level, for example reasonable or limited(iii) Standards
NamedThe assurance standards used — the FCA names none(iv) Report
WhereIf published, where the assurance report is and how to access itNo duty to be assured
No UK rule requires assurance, regime by regime
No UK entity is under a legal duty to obtain assurance over its sustainability disclosures.
The government’s Environmental Reporting Guidelines say there is no statutory requirement to have environmental information audited, and no paragraph of Schedule 7 mentions assurance.
Section 414CB of the Companies Act 2006 imposes disclosure duties only, and the FCA’s rule asks a listed company to say whether it obtained assurance.
The one mandatory third-party check nearby is the UK ETS, where the verifier must be accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065 under the installations guidance; that is verification of a regulated emissions report, not assurance of a disclosure.
Read the oversight regime and what would change it
DBT’s response of 30 January 2026 set up a voluntary oversight regime, tasked the FRC with an interim, non-legislative regime by mid-2026, and said registration will remain voluntary for practitioners.
No FRC announcement confirming that the interim register has opened is recorded in this site’s sources, so this page does not say it exists.
The same response says the government views the regulator-backed register as satisfying the CSRD’s requirements for the purposes of the subsidiary reporting exemptions, which is where a UK group meets the EU rules.
Any legal duty to obtain assurance would need amendments to the Companies Act 2006, in the response’s own words, and none has been made.
Voluntary assurance is still common: the FRC’s market study, using Minerva Analytics data, found that 62 more FTSE 350 companies obtained sustainability assurance in 2023 than in 2019.
| Regime | Assurance position |
|---|---|
| SECR | No statutory requirement to audit or assure the figures |
| Companies Act s.414CB | Disclosure duties only |
| UK SRS, voluntary | Not even a reporting duty |
| FCA listing rules | A statement of whether assurance was obtained |
| Oversight regime | Voluntary for practitioners to register |
| UK ETS | Accredited verification of a regulated report |
Limited or reasonable
Two levels of assurance, two different sentences
Limited and reasonable assurance differ in the work done and in the sentence the practitioner can write at the end.
ISSA (UK) 5000 ¶18 defines both, and under ¶190 a limited assurance report says that nothing has come to the practitioner’s attention to cause it to believe the information is not prepared in accordance with the criteria.
The standard makes a limited report state that its procedures are less in extent than a reasonable engagement’s and that the assurance obtained is “substantially lower”, under ¶190(d)(ii) of ISSA (UK) 5000.
Most UK assurance is limited: the FRC’s market study found that 83% of FTSE 350 sustainability assurance engagements in 2023 were limited, and 69% referenced ISAE 3000.
Read what each level asks of the data
A limited engagement is planned to obtain assurance that is “meaningful”, which the standard defines as likely to enhance users’ confidence to a degree that is clearly more than inconsequential.
A reasonable engagement needs more evidence, more testing of controls and more sampling, so the software’s evidence trail matters more the higher the level.
¶87 forbids a practitioner to agree to change an engagement from reasonable to limited without reasonable justification, so the level is a decision to make before the work starts.
Neither level says anything about environmental performance; both attest to whether the information is prepared in accordance with the criteria.
A report headed “Basis for Conclusion” is limited, and a figure assured on that basis is not “assured as accurate”.
Assurance
engagement
engagement
Limited
Engagement risk reduced to an acceptable level, greater than for reasonable; the report says whether anything has come to the practitioner’s attention to suggest the information is materially misstated.
Headed “Basis for Conclusion”; must state the assurance is substantially lower.Reasonable
Engagement risk reduced to an acceptably low level; the report states in positive form that the information is prepared in all material respects in accordance with the criteria.
Headed “Basis for Opinion”.The assurance standards
ISSA 5000 and ISSA (UK) 5000: effective for nobody by force of law
ISSA 5000 is the IAASB’s general standard for sustainability assurance engagements, published on 12 November 2024 and effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026, under ¶15 of ISSA 5000.
The FRC issued ISSA (UK) 5000 on 12 November 2025 for voluntary use by UK assurance providers, with the same effective date, as its standards page records.
It is mandatory for no one: it binds a practitioner who represents compliance with it, under ¶20, and the FCA deliberately does not name it.
The IAASB announced on 8 May 2025 that ISAE 3410, the greenhouse gas statement standard, is withdrawn from ISSA 5000’s effective date, so engagements will move to the new standard from then.
Read the UK differences and the GHG verification standard
ISSA (UK) 5000 adopts the IAASB text; UK modifications include a prohibition on internal auditors providing direct assistance, at ¶42, and a reference to ISAE (UK) 3000 at ¶11.
DBT’s consultation proposed that registered practitioners must follow ISSA (UK) 5000, and the government expressly left that to the FRC rather than deciding it.
For greenhouse gas statements, ISO 14064-3:2019 specifies verification and validation, and the SECR guidance names it with ISAE 3410 as widely used.
In software terms, the standard decides what a practitioner will ask for, and the product’s job is to make each request answerable from the record.
ISSA 5000 (IAASB)
12 Nov 2024Published; deals with both reasonable and limited assurance (¶9)ISSA (UK) 5000 (FRC)
12 Nov 2025Issued for voluntary use; adopts the IAASB textEffective
15 Dec 2026Periods beginning on or after; earlier application permitted (¶15)ISAE 3410
WithdrawnFrom ISSA 5000’s effective date, per the IAASB’s 8 May 2025 announcementCSRD assurance
Limited assurance only, after the 2026 Omnibus
CSRD assurance is limited assurance, because Directive (EU) 2026/470 removed the requirement to adopt reasonable assurance standards, in recital (5) of Omnibus I.
Article 1(3) of the same directive moved the Commission’s deadline for limited assurance standards to 1 July 2027.
After Omnibus I, CSRD reaches undertakings that exceed both 1,000 employees and €450m net turnover, for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, so a UK group has to check how it reaches its EU entities and listings before it buys for it.
Read what the opinion covers
Under Article 34(1) of the consolidated Accounting Directive, the limited assurance opinion covers compliance with the standards, the process the undertaking carried out to identify the information reported, and the Taxonomy Article 8 disclosures.
The default provider is the statutory auditor; Member States may allow a different auditor or an accredited independent assurance services provider, so who may assure is a Member-State answer.
Some vendor pages still describe a later move to reasonable assurance; that describes a deleted provision, and a buyer should read the law beside the claim.
What CSRD requires of a platform is set out on CSRD reporting software, and the directive itself on CSRD.
CSRD assurance after Omnibus IExplore
Module 01 / 04
Level
Limited assurance; the power to adopt reasonable assurance standards was removed.
Module 02 / 04
Standards
The Commission must adopt limited assurance standards by 1 July 2027.
Module 03 / 04
Perimeter
Compliance with the standards, the process to identify the information reported, and Taxonomy Article 8 disclosures.
Module 04 / 04
Provider
The statutory auditor by default; other auditors or independent assurance services providers where a Member State allows.
The dates that move the market
Assurance, disclosure and tagging, 2024 to 2028
The assurance standards, the UK listing rules, the EU directive and the tagging plans all move on different clocks.
Each date below is the owner’s own; an announcement is labelled as one.
- 12 November 202401
ISSA 5000 published
The IAASB’s general sustainability assurance standard, covering both levels. - 12 November 202502
- 30 January 202603
Voluntary oversight regime
DBT’s response: a voluntary regime for assurance practitioners, with the FRC to set up an interim one. - 18 March 202604
- 30 September 202605
PS26/19 published
UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for five listing categories; the assurance statement; no tagging requirement. - 28 October 202606
TN 803.1 feedback closes
The FCA’s draft guidance on what an explanation should contain. - 11 November 202607
EFRAG XBRL consultation closes
The draft taxonomy for the revised ESRS; digital tagging is not yet mandatory. - 15 December 202608
ISSA 5000 and ISSA (UK) 5000 effective
For periods beginning on or after this date; ISAE 3410 withdrawn from the same date. - 1 January 202709
FCA rules in force
For accounting periods beginning on or after this date, with first reporting in 2028. - 1 July 202710
CSRD limited assurance standards due
The Commission’s deadline under Article 1(3) of Directive (EU) 2026/470. - April 2028 (announced)11
Companies House iXBRL accounts
The registrar’s announced plan for accounts filed through commercial software in iXBRL; not yet law.
What audit-ready should mean
Five things a practitioner can actually test
“Audit-ready” is a vendor’s label, not a term in any UK rule, so it is worth turning into tests.
The first is a link from each disclosed line to its source document, because an assurance practitioner samples figures and asks for the evidence.
The second is a change history kept as the work happens, which serves the transparency principle of the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard.
The third is permissions that separate entering a figure from approving it, so the record shows a review and not just a result.
Read the last two, and where they come from
The fourth is reproducible prior years: SECR keeps last year beside this year in the directors’ report under Schedule 7, and a product that overwrites factors cannot rebuild the comparative it printed.
The fifth is a methodology that matches the calculations, because the directors’ report that carries it must be approved by the board and signed on its behalf, under section 419(1) of the Companies Act 2006.
Approving a non-compliant directors’ report knowingly or recklessly is an offence under s.419(3), so a methodology written separately from the numbers is a risk the board carries.
None of the five requires assurance; they are what makes assurance possible, and they help an internal review just as much.
The data discipline behind them is on ESG data management, and the emissions half — factors, scopes and restatement — on carbon accounting software.
An audit-ready recordExplore
Module 01 / 05
Source linked to line
Each figure opens the bill, extract or return it came from.
Module 02 / 05
Change history
Who changed what, when, from what and why, kept as the work happens.
Module 03 / 05
Permissions
Entry, review and approval held by different people, and recorded.
Module 04 / 05
Reproducible prior years
Last year’s published figure rebuilt exactly, with last year’s factors and boundary.
Module 05 / 05
A methodology the board approves
Generated from the methods used, in the report the directors approve and sign.
The tests before you sign
Demonstration questions, each tied to its provision
The questions beside this turn “audit-ready” and “compliance” into things a vendor can show on a screen; tick the ones that apply and copy the list.
Run each on your own data, with a real prior year and a real correction, because a demonstration dataset is built to look finished.
A blank answer is not a yes: a product that cannot reproduce last year’s published figure cannot support a comparative, whatever its badge says.
Ask a prospective assurance provider which of these it would sample, and test the product against that list.
Audit-ready tests · tick the ones you need
The pass tests are our reading of the cited provisions.
Nothing you tick is stored or sent.
Disclosure management and XBRL
The last mile, and what tagging is actually required
Disclosure management software handles the last mile: the narrative, the numbers inside it linked to their source figures, review, sign-off and, in some products, tagging for digital filing.
It matters because the FCA keeps UK SRS disclosures in the annual financial report, with cross-reference permitted under UK SRS S1, and that report is public within four months of year end under DTR 4.1.3R.
PS26/19 sets no tagging duty for sustainability disclosures: the FCA said it is “not proposing requirements for issuers to digitally tag their sustainability disclosures”.
Read where tagging does and does not apply
Digital tagging applies where an annual financial report contains IFRS consolidated financial statements, under DTR 4.1.18R, one of the provisions that replaced the UK version of the EU’s ESEF technical standard.
In the EU, ESRS digitisation will run through ESEF, but EFRAG says digital tagging of ESRS disclosures is not yet mandatory, and its draft XBRL taxonomy for the revised ESRS is open for consultation until 11 November 2026.
Companies House has announced that from April 2028 it will require accounts to be filed in iXBRL through commercial software; that is the registrar’s plan, not yet law, and it does not change the filing periods.
A SECR XBRL taxonomy has existed since 2020 for companies that choose to tag energy and carbon data when they file digital accounts; it is optional.
So tagging is a capability to ask about for your accounts and any EU filing, not a UK SRS requirement; the frameworks that tagging and disclosure tools map to are on carbon reporting software.
UK SRS disclosures
No tagging rulePS26/19: the FCA is not proposing digital tagging of sustainability disclosuresIFRS consolidated accounts
TaggedDTR 4.1.18R, in annual financial reportsESRS
Not yet mandatoryEFRAG draft taxonomy out for consultation to 11 November 2026Companies House
April 2028Announced iXBRL accounts filing; not yet lawCompliance of claims
Greenwashing rules: a different kind of compliance
For some organisations “ESG compliance” means the rules on what they claim, not what they report, and a reporting platform does not discharge those on its own.
The FCA’s anti-greenwashing rule, ESG 4.3.1R, requires any reference to the sustainability characteristics of a product or service to be consistent with them and fair, clear and not misleading, for all authorised firms from 31 May 2024.
Consumer-facing green claims fall under the general misleading-practices law in Part 4 of the DMCC Act 2024, in force from 6 April 2025.
ESG ratings providers come into FCA regulation under SI 2025/1349, made on 15 December 2025, with its main commencement on 29 June 2028.
The FCA rule is set out on the anti-greenwashing rule; what a platform can contribute is the evidence behind a claim, which is the same evidence trail as above.
Anti-greenwashing rule
31 May 2024FCA ESG 4.3.1R applies to all FCA-authorised firmsDMCC Act 2024 Part 4
6 April 2025Unfair commercial practices, including misleading green claimsESG ratings
29 June 2028SI 2025/1349 main commencement for ESG ratings providersThe vendors
51 ESG reporting and EHS vendors, in their own words
Every vendor this site files under ESG reporting or EHS, alphabetically, which ranks nothing, each linked to its own site and to its profile here where one exists.
Of them, 49 say on their own pages that they cover CSRD or ESRS and 7 that they cover UK SRS, as read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; that is each vendor’s claim, not a finding of this site.
51 vendors · esg reporting, ehs
“Altruistiq helps companies with complex value chains go faster and further on sustainability”
“Intelligent AI that measures, reduces, and reports Scope 1–3 and LCA emissions in line with CDP, SBTi, CSRD, and CBAM requirements”
“Benchmark Gensuite is a unified EHS management software platform built on a single architecture—connecting safety, environmental compliance, and operational risk across every site”
“AI workflows that extract answers from your documents with full source references”
“We support financial institutions, companies, governments, and consumers in making the right decisions - efficiently, confidently, and at scale”
“Measure, reduce, and report your Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions”
“Coolset gives supply chain and ESG teams the structure, automation and guidance to meet complex compliance requirements like EUDR, PPWR and CSRD, and manage Scope 1-3 emissions”
“One AI-enabled EHS software platform to drive performance across employee health, safety, quality, environmental, and sustainability”
“Datamaran’s AI platform empowers business leaders to confidently navigate the complex ESG landscape by transforming vast amounts of information into actionable insights”
“Dcycle is an ESG software platform founded in 2020 that helps companies collect, manage, and govern sustainability and non-financial data”
“Deepki centralizes your sustainability data, strategy and operations in one place so you can act on carbon, climate risk, and finance”
Diginex describes carbon accounting, sustainability reporting, supply chain, human rights monitoring and ESG investor intelligence for asset managers, banks and companies.
EcoOnline sells software to manage EHS and compliance.
“Enablon is Wolters Kluwer’s integrated software platform for environment, health and safety, PSM, and enterprise oversight, with ESG capabilities embedded as part of a broader risk approach”
“Collect, analyze, and report sustainability, financial, and risk KPIs with 10+ software modules – individually or in line with official standards”
“Manage safety, compliance, ESG, sustainability and operational risk from a platform built to keep programs reliable across sites, teams and operational change”
“The climate management platform built on AI, backed by dedicated sustainability experts”
“Measure, report, and reduce your company's emissions on one audit-ready sustainability management platform”
Greenomy offered ESG reporting software for “compliance with key frameworks, including CSRD, EU Taxonomy, and VSME”, in Position Green’s words.
IBM describes Envizi as a “compliance ready solution for ESG data”.
“Ideagen Carbon Accounting is an AI-powered solution designed to address complex multi-region ESG reporting challenges in carbon accounting”
IntegrityNext describes itself as a “supply chain sustainability intelligence & orchestration platform”.
“Bring safety, environment, and quality workflows into one connected platform”
IsoMetrix sells software to “manage their environmental, health, safety, sustainability, and social risks”.
“Manglai is a platform to manage all of your environmental impact”
“Measurabl makes subjective sustainability data objective”
“One home for your ESG data, mapped to every framework and rating”
“Novata is a sustainability data management platform built for private market investors, deal teams, banks, and companies that need a scalable way to collect, manage, and act on sustainability data”
“One digital solution for sustainability planning, data management, reporting, analysis and action - built for enterprise”
Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability
“Oracle Fusion Cloud Sustainability is a new offering to capture environmental, social, and governance data for any kind of activity that has a sustainability impact”
“osapiens is the AI platform for compliance and supplier intelligence to help companies manage risk and become more resilient”
Persefoni describes software and AI tools to manage an organisation’s “sustainability data, disclosures, and performance”.
“Your certified software for reliable emissions intelligence to measure, report and reduce your carbon footprint”
Position Green describes “a sustainability reporting and management platform that combines powerful software with expert advisory services”.
“Pulsora is an AI-powered sustainability and carbon management platform that automates data collection, measurement, and reporting workflows for sustainability teams”
“Digitally handle occupational safety, quality, sustainability, and environmental management”
“It leverages the full power of the Salesforce ecosystem by pulling an organization’s sustainability data into one place and creating actionable insights to guide strategic decisions”
“Measure your full carbon footprint, build your net zero strategy and develop in-house expertise with a single partner”
SAP Sustainability Footprint Management
“Decarbonize your value chain and calculate your corporate and product carbon footprint at scale with ERP-centric, AI-enabled carbon management”
ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management
“ServiceNow Operational Sustainability Management helps organizations manage, visualize, and report on sustainability efforts and risks across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs”
SINAI describes “audit-grade Scope 1–3 accounting, automated compliance reporting, complete supply chain visibility” and decarbonisation planning for global enterprises.
“Sphera unifies risk, safety and sustainability into a single enterprise-wide view — connecting intelligence across operations, products and supply chains”
“Sweep's AI turns sustainability data into measurable business performance”
“Manage sustainability metrics intelligently in medium-sized businesses - through automated processes, AI-powered carbon accounting, and audit-proof ESG reports”
“Terrascope is an enterprise carbon management and decarbonisation platform for companies with complex supply chains”
“Trace combines AI-powered software with expert advisory support to help organisations meet their mandatory climate and sustainability reporting obligations, efficiently and with confidence”
“Unravel Carbon is the climate platform helping companies with global supply chains make data-driven decisions”
“Carbon accounting is often the first step companies take toward climate disclosure, compliance, and action—and with Watershed, it’s part of your complete enterprise sustainability platform”
“Workiva Carbon is an end-to-end carbon accounting software solution that enables organizations to measure, manage, collaborate on, and report emissions data”
“Worldfavor is a supply chain due diligence platform founded in Stockholm in 2016”
“Carbon management software with experts built in, so you can move from measurement to action without spreadsheets or one-off consulting projects”
Alphabetical, which ranks nothing. Each description is the vendor’s own words from its own site, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026; prices appear only where the vendor publishes one. No product here has been tested by this site.
The directory covers 73 vendors across all categories; the filter narrows it.
A vendor’s “audit-ready” or “assurance-ready” wording is its description of itself; the demonstration questions above are how to test it.
The EHS-heritage products and their environmental duties are compared on environmental reporting software.
Choosing without a ranking
“Best” is a question about your duties, not a product
There is no best ESG compliance software in general, and any list that names one has chosen the criteria that produce its answer.
The pages that rank for this search are mostly vendors’ own product pages and vendor-written lists, and few say which UK duty a product serves or that assurance is optional.
The useful question is which product passes the tests your own duties impose, and whether its evidence trail would satisfy the practitioner you might appoint.
Analyst placings, where a vendor cites one, are the analyst’s statement, dated, and not a finding of this site.
- 1
Name your duties
SECR, s.414CB, UK SRS comply or explain, CSRD through an EU entity, or none of them.
- 2
Decide on assurance
Whether you will commission any, at which level, over which disclosures.
- 3
Turn both into tests
Source links, change history, permissions, prior years, methodology, the assurance statement.
- 4
Demonstrate on your data
One figure from source to disclosure, then one correction.
- 5
Check the exit
Figures, evidence and history out, in a form another system could rebuild.
What this page is not
No product has been tested here
This site has tested no products
Nothing on this page is a rating, ranking or recommendation of any product.
Vendor descriptions come from each vendor’s own pages, as recorded in this site’s registry, read 11 October 2026 and 30 September–1 October 2026.
Every rule, date and status traces to the instrument or standard-setter named beside it.
Frequently asked
ESG compliance software, answered
What is ESG compliance software?
Software that holds an organisation’s sustainability data, ties it to the duties that require it, and produces the disclosures, explanations and evidence those duties ask for.
In the UK most of those duties are disclosure duties — SECR in the directors’ report, section 414CB statements, and from periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027 a comply-or-explain statement against UK SRS for listed companies — so the software’s job is to make a figure, or an honest explanation of a missing one, that can be traced to its source.
Does UK law require ESG assurance?
No. No UK rule requires a company to have its sustainability disclosures assured.
SECR carries no assurance requirement, section 414CB imposes disclosure duties only, UK SRS is voluntary outside the FCA’s listing rules, and those rules require a listed company to state whether it obtained third-party assurance, not to obtain it.
The one mandatory third-party check in this area is UK ETS verification of a regulated emissions report, which is a different thing.
What must a listed company say about assurance under the FCA rules?
Under UKLR 6.6.6R(8)(d), as made by PS26/19, whether it has obtained third-party assurance over any of its UK SRS disclosures or explanations and, if so, the name of the provider, which disclosures were assured and to what level, the assurance standards used, and where any published assurance report can be found.
The FCA does not require an explanation where no assurance is sought, and does not name an assurance standard.
What is the difference between limited and reasonable assurance?
Under ISSA (UK) 5000, a reasonable assurance report states in positive form that the information is prepared in all material respects in accordance with the criteria, under the heading Basis for Opinion.
A limited assurance report says that nothing has come to the practitioner’s attention to suggest it is not, under the heading Basis for Conclusion, and must state that the assurance obtained is substantially lower than in a reasonable engagement.
Does CSRD require reasonable assurance?
No. Directive (EU) 2026/470 removed the Commission’s power to adopt reasonable assurance standards, so CSRD assurance is limited assurance, and the Commission must adopt limited assurance standards by 1 July 2027.
A vendor or adviser page that describes a move to reasonable assurance is describing a deleted provision.
What are ISSA 5000 and ISSA (UK) 5000, and do we have to use them?
ISSA 5000 is the IAASB’s general standard for sustainability assurance engagements, published on 12 November 2024.
The FRC issued ISSA (UK) 5000, which adopts its text, on 12 November 2025 for voluntary use.
Both are effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026.
Neither is mandatory for anyone: a practitioner is bound only if it claims compliance, and the FCA rule asks only which standards were used.
What does audit-ready ESG software mean?
A vendor’s label, not a defined term.
It should mean five things a practitioner can test: the source document linked to each line, a change history kept as the work happens, permissions that separate entry from approval, prior years that reproduce exactly, and a methodology statement generated from the methods actually used, for the board to approve.
Ask to see each on your own data.
What is ESG disclosure management software?
Software for the last mile of a disclosure: drafting the narrative, linking each number in the text to its source figure, review and sign-off, and in some products tagging for digital filing.
It matters most where the sustainability disclosures sit in the annual report, as the FCA’s rules require for listed companies, with cross-reference permitted under UK SRS S1.
Do UK SRS disclosures have to be XBRL-tagged?
No. PS26/19 says the FCA is not proposing requirements for issuers to digitally tag their sustainability disclosures.
Digital tagging applies to IFRS consolidated financial statements in annual financial reports under DTR 4.1.18R.
In the EU, digital tagging of ESRS disclosures is not yet mandatory, and EFRAG’s draft XBRL taxonomy for the revised ESRS is out for consultation until 11 November 2026.
Can software make us compliant with UK SRS?
Software can hold the data and draft the disclosures; compliance is the company’s statement.
Under the FCA’s rules a listed company either discloses against UK SRS or explains what is missing, why and what it is doing about it.
A company that explains a gap cannot also make an explicit and unreserved statement of compliance with that standard, under the FCA’s draft guidance, and a climate-first reporter cannot assert compliance with UK SRS S1.
Which is the best ESG compliance software?
This site does not rank products and has tested none.
The useful question is which product passes the tests your duties impose: the disclosures or explanations you owe, the evidence a practitioner would sample, reproducible prior years, permissions, the assurance statement, and an export you could rebuild elsewhere, shown on your own data.
Is there sustainability assurance software for assurance providers?
This site’s registry records reporting software as its vendors describe it on their own sites; it has not surveyed tools sold to assurance practitioners.
For a reporting company, “assurance software” usually means a reporting platform with an evidence trail and a practitioner’s view, and the tests on this page apply to it.
Does ESG compliance include greenwashing rules?
For some organisations, yes, and it is a different kind of compliance.
FCA-authorised firms must keep references to sustainability characteristics fair, clear and not misleading under the anti-greenwashing rule, ESG 4.3.1R, from 31 May 2024; consumer-facing green claims fall under general misleading-practices law in Part 4 of the DMCC Act 2024.
Those are rules about claims, and a reporting platform does not discharge them on its own.
Has this site tested any ESG compliance software?
No. This site has tested no products.
The page is built from the FCA’s listing rules, UK SRS, the Companies Act, SECR, ISSA 5000 and ISSA (UK) 5000, the CSRD as amended in 2026 and the tagging rules, each cited to its provision, and the vendor directory quotes only what each vendor publishes about itself.
Sources
Primary sources
Every rule, date and status on this page traces to the instrument or standard-setter listed here.
Vendor descriptions are cited on each vendor’s profile to the vendor’s own page.
Checked against 26 sources fromFinancial Conduct AuthorityDepartment for Business and Tradelegislation.gov.ukDefra, BEISGOV.UK (UK ETS regulators)IAASB
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 — Aligning listed issuers’ sustainability disclosures with international standards
Comply or explain across UK SRS for UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22, for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 (PDF), Appendix 1 Annex C — UKLR 6.6.6R(7A), (7B) and (8)(c)–(d)
The made rule: disclose or explain, where the disclosures are, and the assurance statement.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityDraft Technical Note TN 803.1 (September 2026, for consultation)
What an explanation should contain, and when a statement of compliance cannot be made.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards — guidance
The standards are available for voluntary use by any entity.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 (PDF), ¶¶73A–73B and Appendix E
A climate-first reporter may not assert compliance with UK SRS S1.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CB
Disclosure duties only; no assurance obligation in the section.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 419
The directors’ report is approved by the board and signed on its behalf.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7
The SECR lines, including the methodology and comparatives.
- Defra, BEISEnvironmental Reporting Guidelines (March 2019, PDF), Chapters 1 and 2
No statutory requirement to have SECR figures audited or assured.
- GOV.UK (UK ETS regulators)UK Emissions Trading Scheme for installations: how to comply
The verifier must be accredited by UKAS to ISO 14065: verification of a regulated report, not disclosure assurance.
- IAASBISSA 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements, ¶¶9, 15
Published 12 November 2024; deals with both reasonable and limited assurance.
- IAASBIAASB announces withdrawal of ISAE 3410 (8 May 2025)
The withdrawal takes effect from ISSA 5000’s effective date.
- Financial Reporting CouncilISSA (UK) 5000 (PDF), ¶¶9, 10, 18, 42, 87, 190, 198
The definitions of limited and reasonable assurance and what each report may say.
- Financial Reporting CouncilAudit, assurance and ethics standards — ISSA (UK) 5000
Issued 12 November 2025 for voluntary use; effective for periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026.
- Financial Reporting CouncilAssurance of Sustainability Reporting Market Study — Final Report (5 February 2025)
83% of FTSE 350 assurance engagements in 2023 were limited; 69% referenced ISAE 3000.
- Department for Business and TradeDeveloping an oversight regime for assurance of sustainability-related financial disclosures — government response
A voluntary oversight regime; registration voluntary for practitioners.
- ISOISO 14064-3:2019 — verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements
The verification standard named in the SECR guidance.
- EUR-LexDirective (EU) 2026/470 (Omnibus I), recital (5) and Article 1(3)
The reasonable-assurance empowerment removed; limited assurance standards by 1 July 2027.
- EUR-LexDirective 2013/34/EU, consolidated 18 March 2026, Article 34
What the limited assurance opinion covers, and who may give it.
- FCA HandbookDTR 4.1 — annual financial reports, and TN 507.2 on DTR 4.1.18R tagging
Digital tagging applies to IFRS consolidated financial statements; PS26/19 sets none for sustainability disclosures.
- EFRAGEFRAG releases draft ESRS XBRL taxonomy for the revised ESRS (17 September 2026)
Consultation open until 11 November 2026; ESRS digital tagging not yet mandatory.
- Companies HouseCompanies House to bring in changes to accounts filing from April 2028 (9 June 2026)
An announced plan for iXBRL accounts filing, not yet law.
- FCA HandbookESG 4.3.1R — the anti-greenwashing rule
Applies to all FCA-authorised firms from 31 May 2024.
- legislation.gov.ukDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Part 4
General unfair-commercial-practices law that governs consumer-facing green claims.
- legislation.gov.ukFSMA 2000 (Regulated Activities) (ESG Ratings) Order 2025, SI 2025/1349
Made 15 December 2025; main commencement 29 June 2028.
- GHG Protocol (WRI, WBCSD)A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard — Chapter 1
Transparency and consistency, the principles an audit trail serves.
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