The ISSB Standards · the global baseline
IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards: S1, S2 and the UK route
The IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards are the two standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board: IFRS S1 for general requirements and IFRS S2 for climate.
They are written for investors, lenders and other creditors, and they ask for the sustainability information that could affect a company’s cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital.
The IFRS Foundation says more than 45 jurisdictions are on the journey to using them, and the UK uses them through UK SRS S1 and S2.
Before the detail
The standards, in brief
There are two IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, and only two: IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, issued together in June 2023.
IFRS S1 sets the architecture for every sustainability-related risk and opportunity; IFRS S2 applies it to climate.
Both took effect, for IFRS purposes, for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024.
That date binds nobody on its own, because the ISSB writes standards and jurisdictions decide who must use them.
IFRS S2 was amended in December 2025, and the amendments apply to periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
In the UK the standards arrive as UK SRS S1 and S2, and listed companies meet them on a comply-or-explain basis from 2027.
The rest of this page maps the family, the test, the dates, the adoption picture and the UK route, and links each to the page that goes deeper.
The family
Two standards, and what sits around them
Only S1 and S2 are Standards; the other documents guide, tag or propose, and each says so.
| Document | What it is | How it binds | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFRS S1 General Requirements | The general standard: conceptual foundations, core content, general requirements, Appendices A–E. | A Standard. Applies where adopted. | IFRS S1 |
| IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures | The climate standard, amended December 2025. | A Standard. Applies where adopted. | IFRS S2 |
| Industry-based Guidance on Implementing IFRS S2 | Industry disclosure topics and metrics derived from the SASB Standards. | Accompanies S2, which says an entity “shall refer to and consider the applicability” of it. | SASB Standards |
| SASB Standards | 77 industry standards, maintained by the ISSB since 2022. | IFRS S1 ¶58(a): “shall refer to and consider the applicability” of their metrics; an entity may conclude they do not apply. | SASB Standards |
| IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy | Digital tags for information prepared under the Standards. | “Neither introduces new requirements nor affects a company’s compliance.” | IFRS Foundation |
| Educational material | Explanations of how to apply the Standards, for example on transition plans and scenario analysis. | Not authoritative; it does not add to or change requirements. | Transition plans |
| Proposed Practice Statement on nature | Proposals for nature-related disclosures, drawing on the TNFD. | Exposure draft from 22 October 2026; non-mandatory unless a jurisdiction requires it. | Nature disclosures |
The full paragraph-numbered texts of both Standards are free to read on the IFRS Foundation’s site; the Sustainability Standards Navigator asks for registration only for its files.
IFRS S2 grew out of the TCFD recommendations, and the IFRS Foundation took over monitoring of climate-related disclosures when the Task Force disbanded in 2023 (IFRS Foundation).
How they fit
S1 sets the frame, S2 fills it for climate
IFRS S1 is the architecture: it defines materiality, the reporting entity, connected information, the four core content areas, location, timing and the statement of compliance.
IFRS S2 is the first topic standard built on it, and it is read together with S1, never alone.
The four core content areas — governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets — come from the TCFD, and are set out on the four pillars page.
The pair, compared side by side, is on IFRS S1 and S2.
- 1
Identify the risks and opportunities
IFRS S1 asks which sustainability-related risks and opportunities could reasonably be expected to affect the entity’s prospects.
- 2
Judge what is material
Material means it could influence the decisions of investors, lenders and other creditors (S1 ¶18).
- 3
Disclose across four areas
Governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets, for each material topic.
- 4
Apply the topic standard
For climate, IFRS S2 adds greenhouse gas emissions, scenario analysis and industry metrics.
- 5
Look to SASB where no standard applies
For other topics, S1 ¶58(a) points to the SASB Standards’ metrics.
The test
Material to investors, not to everyone
The ISSB Standards use single, financial materiality: the question is what a provider of capital needs, not what the company’s impact on the world is.
An impact on people or nature enters an ISSB report only through the risk or opportunity it creates for the company.
The EU’s ESRS add an impact perspective, which is why a group reporting under both cannot reuse one report unchanged; the two tests are set side by side on double materiality.
IFRS S1 sets no percentage threshold and says it does not predetermine what would be material in a particular situation.
Information is material if omitting, misstating or obscuring that information could reasonably be expected to influence decisions that primary users of general purpose financial reports make on the basis of those reports.
IFRS S1 ¶18; primary users are existing and potential investors, lenders and other creditors.
Effective dates
The IFRS dates, and the reliefs that come with them
The IFRS effective date is 1 January 2024, and every relief in the Standards runs from the date a company first applies them, not from a calendar date.
So a company first applying the Standards for 2027 gets the first-year reliefs for 2027.
The UK removed the effective date from UK SRS and the time limit from its climate-first relief, and for listed companies the FCA’s rules set that relief at two years.
Every date, relief and condition is on the effective date page.
| Date or relief | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2024 | IFRS S1 and S2 effective for annual periods beginning on or after this date; earlier application only if both are applied. | S1 ¶E1 · S2 ¶C1 |
| First year: no comparatives | No comparative information in the first annual period. | S1 ¶E3 · S2 ¶C3 |
| First year: later timing | The first report may follow the financial statements, with the half-year report or within nine months. | S1 ¶E4 |
| First year: climate first | Report on climate only in the first annual period, and say so. | S1 ¶E5 |
| First year: Scope 3 and method | No Scope 3 in the first annual period; keep a non-GHG-Protocol method used the year before. | S2 ¶C4 |
| 1 January 2027 | The December 2025 amendments apply; earlier application permitted, with disclosure. | S2 ¶C1B |
Adoption
More than 45 jurisdictions, and what that number does not mean
The IFRS Foundation counts jurisdictions on the journey to using the Standards; whether any company must report is a separate fact, decided locally.
The IFRS Foundation publishes a profile for each jurisdiction whose approach is finalised and a snapshot for each whose approach is still in progress, and the index was last updated on 24 September 2026.
The United Kingdom is a snapshot, not a profile.
Adopting a standard, requiring its use and the identity of the regulator that requires it are three separate facts, and through 2026 they stopped moving together.
Brazil’s securities regulator, for example, removed the reporting obligation for listed companies in May 2026 and replaced it with comply or explain, while a company that does publish must still follow the CBPS and ISSB standards.
The jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction table, with each effective year, is on ISSB adoption by jurisdiction.
The UK route
UK SRS S1 and S2, on comply or explain
The UK does not apply IFRS S1 and S2 directly: the government endorsed them as UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 on 25 February 2026, for voluntary use.
The UK texts are the IFRS texts except where Annex A of the government response says otherwise, and the differences are listed on UK SRS amendments.
The FCA’s final rules apply UK SRS to listed companies on a comply-or-explain basis, with first reports in 2028.
Nothing in UK SRS is mandatory under those rules, and nothing becomes mandatory when a relief expires.
A new or amended ISSB pronouncement does not apply in the UK until the UK endorses it, which is why the UK text matters more to a UK preparer than the latest IFRS text.
The UK standards are read paragraph by paragraph on UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2, and what a UK company must report is set out on ISSB reporting requirements in the UK.
For accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 report against UK SRS S1 and S2, or say which requirements they have not met, why, and what they plan to do.
FCA PS26/19 ¶¶1.2, 3.6, 3.12; UKLR 6.6.6R(7A) and (7B).
What is moving
The work plan, dated
The ISSB says its priority is supporting companies applying IFRS S1 and S2, alongside enhancing the SASB Standards (Advisory Council, April 2026).
Its research and standard-setting work is on nature-related disclosures and on human capital, where it is still deciding whether to move from research to standard-setting.
None of it changes what a UK company reports under UK SRS until the UK endorses it.
The Board itself — who sits on it, how it is governed and how it sets its agenda — is on the ISSB framework.
- December 2025
IFRS S2 greenhouse gas amendments
Issued; apply from 1 January 2027, and already in the UK SRS S2 text. The four changes. - July–September 2026
Taxonomy Proposed Update 1
Proposed on 29 July to tag the amendments; comments closed 28 September. It changes no requirement. - 22 October 2026
Nature Practice Statement exposure draft
Launch at COP17; 120 days for comment, to 19 February 2027. What is proposed. - 2026
Enhancing the SASB Standards
Twelve priority industries under review, plus targeted amendments across 41 more. SASB Standards. - Late 2026–2027
Agenda consultation
A joint IASB and ISSB agenda consultation is planned to start in late 2026, with stakeholder consultation in 2027.
The cluster
Every page on the ISSB Standards, in one place
| Question | Page |
|---|---|
| What does IFRS S1 say, paragraph by paragraph? | IFRS S1 |
| What does IFRS S2 say, paragraph by paragraph? | IFRS S2 |
| How do S1 and S2 differ, and how are they used together? | IFRS S1 and S2 |
| When do they apply, and what reliefs are there? | Effective date and reliefs |
| Which jurisdictions have adopted them, and from when? | Adoption by jurisdiction |
| What is the ISSB proposing on nature? | Nature-related disclosures |
| What are the four pillars of the core content? | The four pillars |
| What changed in IFRS S2 in December 2025? | The IFRS S2 amendments |
| What does IFRS S2 require on Scope 3 and financed emissions? | Scope 3 and financed emissions |
| Which metrics does every company report? | Cross-industry metrics and targets |
| How is industry guidance used? | Industry-based guidance |
| How must scenario analysis be done? | Scenario analysis |
| What about current and anticipated financial effects? | Financial effects |
| How does IFRS S2 differ from TCFD? | IFRS S2 vs TCFD |
| How do the ISSB Standards sit beside GRI? | ISSB vs GRI |
| What does a complete IFRS S2 report contain? | IFRS S2 disclosure checklist |
| What did the first reports look like? | What the first reports show |
| What should reporting software do? | IFRS S2 reporting software |
| How are disclosures tagged digitally? | The ISSB taxonomy |
| Who is the ISSB and how is it governed? | The ISSB framework |
| What are the SASB Standards and how do they bind? | SASB Standards |
| How does the UK version differ? | UK SRS amendments |
| What must a UK company report under the ISSB Standards? | ISSB reporting requirements in the UK |
| How do the ISSB Standards compare with ESRS and GRI? | Global standards compared |
Frequently asked
The ISSB Standards, answered
What are the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards?
They are the sustainability reporting standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), part of the IFRS Foundation.
There are two: IFRS S1, the general requirements for disclosing sustainability-related financial information, and IFRS S2, the climate standard.
Both were issued in June 2023 and are often called the ISSB Standards.
How many IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards are there?
Two: IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
Around them sit documents that are not standards — the Industry-based Guidance on Implementing IFRS S2, the SASB Standards that IFRS S1 directs preparers to consider, the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy and educational material.
A Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures is being proposed in October 2026; it would not be a Standard.
When did IFRS S1 and S2 become effective?
For annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024, with earlier application permitted.
That is the IFRS effective date; a standard applies to a company only when a jurisdiction or the company itself adopts it.
The December 2025 amendments to IFRS S2 apply to periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Are the ISSB Standards mandatory?
Not of themselves.
The ISSB sets the standards; jurisdictions decide whether and how companies must use them.
The IFRS Foundation says more than 45 jurisdictions are on the journey to adopting them, and that companies in 12 jurisdictions are reporting on them for 2025, but adoption and a reporting obligation are separate facts.
Do the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards apply in the UK?
Through UK versions.
The government issued UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 on 25 February 2026, based on IFRS S1 and S2 with a small number of amendments, for voluntary use.
The FCA’s final rules, PS26/19, require companies in five listing categories to report against UK SRS or explain, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
What is the difference between IFRS S1 and IFRS S2?
IFRS S1 sets the general requirements for every sustainability-related risk and opportunity that could affect a company’s prospects: materiality, the four core content areas, location, timing and the statement of compliance.
IFRS S2 applies that architecture to climate and adds specific requirements such as greenhouse gas emissions, scenario analysis and industry-based metrics.
Do the ISSB Standards use double materiality?
No. Information is material if omitting, misstating or obscuring it could reasonably be expected to influence the decisions of investors, lenders and other creditors (IFRS S1 ¶18).
The EU’s ESRS add an impact perspective; the ISSB Standards do not.
What changed in IFRS S2 in December 2025?
Targeted amendments to the greenhouse gas requirements: Category 15 Scope 3 emissions may be limited to financed emissions, classification systems other than GICS may be used to disaggregate financed emissions, the jurisdictional relief from the GHG Protocol is clarified, and a jurisdictional relief from using the latest IPCC global warming potential values is added.
They apply from periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
Is the ISSB writing a nature standard?
Not a standard.
The ISSB has decided to propose a Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures, drawing on the TNFD framework.
Its exposure draft launches on 22 October 2026 for a 120-day consultation ending on 19 February 2027.
A Practice Statement is non-mandatory unless a jurisdiction chooses to require it, and IFRS S1 already requires material nature-related information.
Are the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards free to read?
Yes.
The full paragraph-numbered HTML texts of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 are served without registration on the IFRS Foundation’s site; the Sustainability Standards Navigator asks for registration only for its PDF and HTML files.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S1 General Requirements, full text (June 2023)
Paragraphs 1–86 and Appendices A–E; ¶58(a) on the SASB Standards; Appendix E effective date and reliefs.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, full text (December 2025)
The amended text, including C1A–C1B on the December 2025 amendments.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S1 — Sustainability Standards Navigator page
Effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024, earlier application only with IFRS S2.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S2 — Sustainability Standards Navigator page and standard history
The TCFD and SASB lineage, and the December 2025 amendments.
- IFRS FoundationISSB issues targeted amendments to IFRS S2 to support implementation (11 December 2025)
The four changes, effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
- IFRS FoundationUse of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards by jurisdiction
Profiles and snapshots; last updated 24 September 2026. The UK is a snapshot.
- IFRS FoundationWorld Standard-setters Conference 2026 — ISSB update (PDF)
“More than 45 jurisdictions on the journey”; companies in 12 jurisdictions reporting for FY2025, 6 more from FY2026.
- IFRS FoundationWorld Standard-setters Conference 2026 — Application of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 (PDF)
The table of jurisdictional effective dates, as presented on 28–29 September 2026.
- IFRS FoundationAdvisory Council, April 2026 — Update on the ISSB’s activities (PDF)
Work plan, implementation support, SASB enhancement and the jurisdiction list as at end of March 2026.
- IFRS FoundationISSB proposes update to the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Taxonomy (29 July 2026)
“The ISSB Taxonomy neither introduces new requirements nor affects a company’s compliance with ISSB Standards.”
- IFRS FoundationLive from COP17: ISSB nature-related disclosures consultation (6 October 2026)
The exposure draft of a Practice Statement launches on 22 October 2026, with comments to 19 February 2027.
- IFRS FoundationNature-related disclosures — FAQs (PDF)
IFRS S1 already requires material nature-related information.
- IFRS FoundationSASB Standards
The industry standards IFRS S1 directs preparers to consider.
- Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (Brazil)CVM altera Resolução 193 para revogar obrigatoriedade… (29 May 2026)
Resolução CVM 244 removes the obligation for listed companies and introduces a “pratique ou explique” notice; publishers must follow CBPS and ISSB standards.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 (25 February 2026)
The UK-endorsed versions, issued for voluntary use.
- Department for Business and TradeConsultation response (PDF), Annex A
Each difference between UK SRS and the IFRS texts.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers’ sustainability disclosures with international standards
Final rules, 30 September 2026: comply or explain against UK SRS for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19 (PDF), ¶¶1.2, 1.7, 3.6, 3.12 and 3.14
The five listing categories, the timing and the reliefs.
Continue reading
Read next
ISSB reporting requirements in the UK
What a UK company must report, and when it uses ISSB directly.
IFRS S1 and S2
The two standards side by side, and how a report uses both.
Effective date and reliefs
Every IFRS date and first-year relief, and the UK’s own timing.
Adoption by jurisdiction
Where companies report on ISSB Standards, and from which year.
UK SRS S1 and S2
The UK versions, and what the FCA’s rules ask of listed companies.
Nature-related disclosures
The proposed Practice Statement, and what it would and would not change.
The ISSB framework
The Board, its governance and its work plan.