Not required for compliance
A company applying IFRS S1 and S2 can state compliance with ISSB Standards without it.
Nor must a jurisdiction mandate it to count as an adopter.ISSB · nature-related disclosures
ISSB nature-related disclosures: a Practice Statement, not a Standard
The ISSB is proposing a Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures, drawing on the TNFD framework, with an exposure draft launching on 22 October 2026.
It would not be a new Standard, it would leave IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 unchanged, and it would bind a company only if the company or its jurisdiction chose to apply it.
This page sets out what has been decided, what the proposals are expected to contain, and what they would mean in the UK.
Where it stands
The status, as at 11 October 2026
The IFRS Foundation announced on 6 October 2026 a webinar on 22 October 2026 to mark the launch of the exposure draft proposing a Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures.
The consultation will run for 120 days and end on 19 February 2027.
On the date of this page the exposure draft had been announced but not yet published, so what follows is drawn from the ISSB’s decisions and its own previews.
No final Practice Statement date and no effective date have been announced.
The form
Why a Practice Statement, and what that means
The ISSB decided in April 2026 to propose nature-related disclosures as an IFRS Practice Statement rather than a new Standard or amendments to IFRS S1 or S2 (FAQs, Q2).
Its reasons were to give nature prominence, to avoid disrupting companies still implementing IFRS S1 and S2, and to avoid creating a barrier for jurisdictions still adopting them.
The ISSB’s own staff paper puts it plainly: a Practice Statement “is not a Standard”, but “a jurisdiction can choose to mandate it” (AP3D ¶55).
The FAQs add that applying a Practice Statement “would have the full effect of an ISSB Standard for companies applying it”, and that it gives the ISSB a pathway to a Standard later.
An IFRS Practice Statement on nature
Full due process; the same consultation as a Standard.
Full due process; the same consultation as a Standard.
Binding once applied
A company that applies it and asserts compliance must meet all its requirements.
A jurisdiction can choose to require it.What is proposed
What the proposals are expected to contain
From the ISSB’s tentative decisions and the previews it gave in 2026; the published exposure draft governs.
| Element | What the ISSB has said | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Specify aspects of material information on nature for companies to disclose to investors, used together with IFRS S1 and S2 | WSS 2026 |
| Identifying risks and opportunities | An option to use the TNFD LEAP approach; the Practice Statement would name the applicable version | ISSB Update May 2026 |
| Location | An emphasis on location- and asset-specific information | ISSB Update April 2026 |
| Indigenous Peoples and communities | Guidance on how engagement with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and affected stakeholders can give rise to nature-related risks and opportunities | ISSB Update April 2026 |
| Resilience | A requirement to use nature-related scenario analysis to assess resilience, consistent with IFRS S2 and its proportionality mechanisms | ISSB Update May 2026 |
| Metrics | New metrics on vulnerability to nature-related risks and alignment with nature-related opportunities | WSS 2026 |
| Other sources | Continued “shall” reference to the SASB Standards; “may” reference to GRI, the ESRS and TNFD metrics | WSS 2026 |
The May 2026 decisions also stress that a nature resilience assessment would be more location- and asset-specific than the climate one in IFRS S2.
The ISSB is also feeding the project into its work on the SASB Standards, so industry metrics on nature are moving in parallel.
Already required
Nature is not optional under IFRS S1 today
The Practice Statement would not create the duty to report on nature; it would specify how to meet a duty IFRS S1 already imposes where nature is material.
A company applying IFRS S1 should therefore already be asking whether dependencies and impacts on nature create risks or opportunities that could affect its prospects.
The materiality test is the investor’s, as everywhere in the ISSB Standards: an impact on nature enters the report through the risk or opportunity it creates for the company.
In the IFRS Foundation’s words
“IFRS S1 already requires that companies provide material information on all of the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect a company’s prospects thus already requires that information be provided about nature-related risks and opportunities when material for a company’s investors.”
Nature-related Disclosures FAQs, April 2026, Background.
The TNFD
The TNFD’s work, carried into the ISSB
The TNFD recommendations use four pillars modelled on the TCFD’s — governance, strategy, risk and impact management, and metrics and targets — and add the LEAP approach — Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare — for identifying nature-related issues.
When the ISSB decided to draw on its framework, the TNFD said it would complete the technical work in progress and pause the start of new technical guidance (TNFD).
The ISSB has said its proposals would permit reference to TNFD metrics, and the TNFD’s own structure is set out on the TNFD.
In the UK
What it means for a UK company
A new ISSB pronouncement does not apply in the UK unless the UK endorses it or a UK rule requires it.
No UK authority has said it will endorse or require the nature Practice Statement.
A UK listed company reporting under UK SRS S1 is already asked to consider material sustainability-related risks and opportunities beyond climate, which can include nature, once its climate-first relief ends.
Responding to the consultation is open to anyone until 19 February 2027.
Frequently asked
ISSB nature disclosures, answered
Is the ISSB issuing a nature standard?
No. In April 2026 the ISSB decided to propose nature-related disclosures in the form of an IFRS Practice Statement, not a new Standard and not amendments to IFRS S1 or S2.
The consultation will ask whether a Practice Statement is the right form.
When is the ISSB nature exposure draft published?
The IFRS Foundation announced on 6 October 2026 a launch webinar on 22 October 2026, during the UN biodiversity conference COP17, to mark the launch of the exposure draft.
It will be open for a 120-day consultation ending on 19 February 2027.
No final publication or effective date has been announced.
What is an IFRS Practice Statement?
A stand-alone document developed under the IFRS Foundation’s full due process, with the same public consultation as a new Standard.
Applying one is not required to assert compliance with ISSB Standards, and a jurisdiction need not mandate it to be described as an adopter.
But a company that applies it and wants to assert compliance with it must meet all its requirements, and a jurisdiction can choose to require it.
Do companies already have to report on nature under the ISSB Standards?
Where it is material.
IFRS S1 already requires material information about all sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect a company’s prospects, which includes nature-related ones.
The Practice Statement would specify particular aspects of that information.
How does the ISSB nature proposal relate to the TNFD?
The ISSB is drawing on the TNFD framework, and the TNFD paused the start of any new technical guidance to support the ISSB’s work.
The IFRS Foundation has said the proposals include an option to use the TNFD LEAP approach to identify nature-related risks and opportunities, and permit reference to TNFD metrics.
Will the ISSB nature Practice Statement apply in the UK?
Not automatically.
A new ISSB pronouncement does not apply in the UK unless the UK endorses it or a UK rule requires it, and no UK authority has said it will.
UK companies applying UK SRS S1 already have to consider material nature-related risks and opportunities through its general requirements.
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.
Checked against 14 sources fromIFRS FoundationTNFDDepartment for Business and Trade
- IFRS FoundationLive from COP17: ISSB nature-related disclosures consultation (6 October 2026)
Launch webinar on 22 October 2026; 120-day consultation ending on 19 February 2027.
- IFRS FoundationNature-related Disclosures: FAQs on form of standard-setting (April 2026, PDF)
Q1 what a Practice Statement is; Q2 why not a Standard; IFRS S1 already requires material nature information.
- IFRS FoundationISSB Update July 2026
Permission to ballot, 21 July 2026; 120-day comment period; publication planned for October 2026.
- IFRS FoundationISSB Update May 2026
Tentative decisions on nature-related scenario analysis and the TNFD LEAP approach.
- IFRS FoundationISSB Update April 2026
The form decided: an IFRS Practice Statement; location-specific information and engagement with Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
- IFRS FoundationISSB staff paper AP3D, form of standard-setting (April 2026, PDF)
¶55: a Practice Statement is non-mandatory and is not a Standard, but a jurisdiction can choose to mandate it.
- IFRS FoundationWorld Standard-setters Conference 2026 — ISSB update (PDF)
Highlights of the proposals: LEAP option, location, new vulnerability and alignment metrics, SASB, TNFD, GRI and ESRS references.
- IFRS FoundationNature-related Disclosures — work plan page
The project page (its address still carries the legacy “biodiversity” slug).
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S1 General Requirements, full text
The requirement that already reaches material nature-related risks and opportunities.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS S2, full text (December 2025)
The resilience and scenario-analysis requirements the nature proposals mirror.
- TNFDISSB decision on nature-related standard-setting drawing on the TNFD framework (November 2025)
TNFD to complete work in progress and pause new technical guidance.
- TNFDRecommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
The framework the ISSB is drawing on.
- TNFDGuidance on the identification and assessment of nature-related issues: the LEAP approach
Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2
The UK standards; a new ISSB pronouncement applies in the UK only once the UK endorses it.
Continue reading
Read next
Nature
The TNFD
The nature framework the ISSB is drawing on, and the LEAP approach.
The hub
IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards
The whole ISSB family and the UK route.
The general standard
IFRS S1
The general requirements that already reach material nature risks.
The Board
The ISSB framework
The Board, its governance and its work plan.
Industry standards
SASB Standards
Industry metrics, including on nature, under enhancement.
The UK
UK SRS S1
The UK general requirements, and the climate-first relief.