UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS): The beginning of a new chapter in sustainability reporting

On 25 February 2026, the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) released the long-awaited UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS), following a consultation that concluded in September 2025.

The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) focus on what is material to an entity’s prospects - often described as financial materiality. 

The UK SRS are the UK’s first endorsed sustainability disclosure standards. Their launch is a significant milestone in facilitating the provision of comparable and robust information regarding an entity’s sustainability-related risks and opportunities. This may support the government aim for the UK to be a global leader for sustainable finance.

About the UK SRS 

The two UK SRS – UK SRS S1: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and UK SRS S2: Climate-related Disclosures – are closely based on the respective standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).    

It’s encouraging that the UK government’s preference is for future amendments to follow developments issued by the ISSB, rather than UK-specific changes. This approach should help preserve ongoing global consistency and comparability.  It also allows UK reporters to draw on international guidance, training materials and practical examples when interpreting and applying the UK SRS from.  

The release of the UK SRS comes at an interesting time in the UK, given the DBT’s forthcoming consultation on the streamlining of corporate reporting requirements.  The UK SRS sit within the wider context of the Modernising Corporate Reporting programme, announced in October 2025, which aims to re-establish the purpose of the annual report and accounts, and address the transition plan requirements. At the time of writing, we are waiting for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s (DESNZ) summary of responses to its consultation on transition plan implementation routes.  

It’s positive to see that the interconnections between these developments appear to be under consideration. Greater alignment should improve consistency of definitions and strengthen connectivity between the sustainability and financial disclosures - ultimately improving reporting for all users. 

About the application of the UK SRS  

For now, the UK SRS is voluntary and available to use immediately.

The standards don’t refer to a specific ‘effective date’.  Instead, the effective date for UK SRS will be set out through regulation or legislation if and when reporting requirements are introduced. In time, report preparers will need to refer to the Companies Act, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Listing Rules, and/or any other regulatory authority for application dates.

The FCA has already indicated its intention in its ongoing consultation Aligning listed issuers’ sustainability disclosures with international standards (responses should be submitted by 20 March 2026).

The standards no longer specify time limits for certain transitional reliefs, including those relating to non-climate reporting and Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas reporting. Instead, responsibility for removing reliefs, applying time limits or other conditions lies with the authorities listed above.  So, while the UK SRS effectively allow reporters to use the reliefs indefinitely, the reality is that the power to change the reliefs now lies with the authorities who’ll determine the standards’ application. 

The knock-on from the above means that statements of compliance (with UK SRS) are more complex and concern the standards and the use of reliefs. This transparency should, however, support comparability between reporters using the UK SRS.

Practical next steps  

• Start with materiality 

Consider what is material to your business. While the standards set out what needs to be disclosed, for businesses well managed by responsible directors, the materiality assessment set out in and for UK SRS is unlikely to surface many items that are new – significant risks should already be in enterprise risk management systems and opportunities factored into corporate strategies and plans.  

• Prioritise governance 

Like ISSB and many other standards and frameworks, the UK SRS prioritises governance. Ensure governance is optimised so that responsibilities, processes, policies and reporting support the understanding, and the identification and management of significant sustainability matters. Boards should consider whether they collectively have the skills and knowledge required to understand and interpret material sustainability matters. 

• Consider compliance as the floor not the ceiling 

While UK SRS is likely to become a compliance requirement for some UK issuers in the near term, they should be viewed as the minimum disclosures for a reporter. Consider the data requirements of key stakeholders, including group companies. For example, if a reporter sells to an operator in Europe, that’s in-scope to the new requirements in that jurisdiction or to a UK client that is committed to reporting to stringent carbon frameworks, these data requirements must be served. 

• Consider assurance 

The UK SRS don’t mandate third-party assurance, although verification is encouraged in a few specific areas. We’re already seeing a trend in reporters seeking pre-assurance, dry-run verification, and assurance of certain data points and processes. This measured approach can improve the quality and reliability of disclosures, while building internal confidence and understanding of good sustainability data for internal decision-making as well as external reporting.  

• Respond to consultations 

Consider responding to the FCA consultation and all other related consultations and have your say in the application of the UK SRS in the UK market.

Looking ahead 

The UK SRS is a positive step in the right direction. However, we believe the UK SRS should go further, and not just cover what is financially material.  

More comprehensive and holistic reporting would be achieved by expanding these standards to include reporting on the impact of organisations on people and the planet.  

A ‘double materiality’ approach - long championed by ICAS and embraced in Europe, despite the recent simplification measures to reporting - would better serve the needs of multiple stakeholders and support the long-term public interest.  

We’ll continue to advocate for disclosure requirements that are proportionate, decision-useful and interoperable (and ultimately equivalent) with international regimes.  

Look out for our Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation sessions

We’ll be hosting engagement sessions with DBT on the Modernising Corporate Reporting once the consultation has been published. We’ll share more about the sessions soon.