Biodiversity reporting · TNFD
TNFD in the UK: nature-related reporting explained
TNFD is the main international framework for biodiversity reporting by companies, and in the UK it is voluntary: no UK law or listing rule requires it.
The TNFD recommendations set 14 disclosures on nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, and the ISSB is now drawing on them for an IFRS Practice Statement due for consultation in October 2026.
This page covers what TNFD asks for, how LEAP works, what is changing internationally, and where nature fits under UK SRS and the FCA’s new rules.
The framework
What TNFD asks a company to disclose
The TNFD recommendations, published in September 2023, recommend 14 disclosures under four pillars.
Eleven of them are the TCFD’s recommended disclosures carried across; three are specific to nature.
The additions are a governance disclosure on human rights and stakeholder engagement, a strategy disclosure on priority locations, and a risk disclosure on value-chain processes.
The third pillar is named “risk and impact management”, not “risk management”, because TNFD asks about a company’s impacts on nature as well as the risks nature poses to it.
The structure is deliberately the same as the TCFD recommendations, so a company already reporting on climate can extend its report rather than start a second one.
| Pillar | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Governance | Board and management oversight of nature-related issues, plus engagement with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and affected stakeholders |
| Strategy | Effects on the business model, strategy and financial planning, plus locations meeting the criteria for priority locations |
| Risk and impact management | How nature-related issues are identified, assessed and managed, including across the value chain |
| Metrics and targets | The metrics and targets used to assess and manage material nature-related issues |
Status
Is TNFD mandatory in the UK? No
TNFD reporting is voluntary in the UK, and no government department or regulator has set a date to require it.
The FRC’s sustainability reporting FAQ says new ISSB material on nature would not apply in the UK automatically and would first go through the UK’s formal endorsement process.
The UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee, which advises on endorsement, has a nature project at research stage.
The UK SRS standards published by the Department for Business and Trade on 25 February 2026 cover climate in S2 and sustainability matters generally in S1.
For listed companies in scope, the FCA’s final rules in PS26/19 require reporting against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
The same rules give two years’ relief from S1 disclosures on matters other than climate, so a nature-related explanation is not expected in the first two years; a company using the relief must say so.
The rules finalised the FCA’s CP26/5 consultation; how they apply is covered on our UK SRS requirements page, and the climate disclosures a nature report builds on are set out in our UK SRS S2 climate disclosures reference.
TNFD recommendations: voluntary, and the Taskforce’s technical programme is closing.
ISSB nature Practice Statement: proposed, with an exposure draft targeted for October 2026.
UK SRS S1: comply-or-explain for listed companies in scope from 2027, with a two-year relief for non-climate matters.
The method
The LEAP approach: locate, evaluate, assess, prepare
LEAP is the TNFD’s guidance for working out which nature-related issues matter before anything is disclosed.
L · Locate
Your interface with nature
Where direct operations and the value chain meet ecosystems, and which locations are sensitive.
E · Evaluate
Dependencies and impacts
What the business relies on from nature, and what it does to it, at those locations.
A · Assess
Risks and opportunities
Which of those dependencies and impacts become material risks or opportunities for the business.
P · Prepare
Respond and report
Strategy, targets and the disclosures themselves, under the four pillars.
LEAP can be applied to a whole company, a business unit or a single site, and the TNFD offers it as guidance rather than a requirement.
Location is the difference from climate reporting: a tonne of carbon has the same effect wherever it is emitted, but the effect of water abstraction or land use depends on where it happens.
Tools such as ENCORE, which maps how economic activities depend on and affect nature, can be used at the locate and evaluate steps.
Site-level evidence a UK developer already holds, such as a biodiversity net gain baseline and its 30-year monitoring, is the kind of data the evaluate step asks for.
What is changing
From TNFD to an ISSB Practice Statement
In November 2025 the International Sustainability Standards Board decided to set requirements on nature-related risks and opportunities, drawing on the TNFD framework.
In April 2026 it chose the form: an IFRS Practice Statement that builds on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, rather than a new standard.
The IFRS Foundation’s FAQ says the ISSB aims to publish the draft Practice Statement in October 2026 for public consultation, and its work plan records a 120-day comment period.
A Practice Statement is not mandatory in itself, although a jurisdiction can choose to require it.
The ISSB’s own point is that IFRS S1 already requires material nature-related information; the Practice Statement would say how to provide it.
The TNFD said in November 2025 that it would complete its technical work in progress by the third quarter of 2026 and pause any new technical guidance, concluding its programme subject to the ISSB’s outcome.
Adoption has kept growing: the TNFD 2026 Status Report counts 802 organisations committed to TNFD-aligned disclosure and more than 1,000 that have published TNFD-aligned reports.
The international timeline
- Sep 2023TNFD recommendations published
Version 1.0, voluntary.
- Nov 2025ISSB decides to set standards on nature
Drawing on TNFD; TNFD pauses new technical guidance.
- Apr 2026Form chosen: an IFRS Practice Statement
Not a new standard; all 12 ISSB members agreed.
- Jul 2026Permission to ballot
120-day comment period set.
- Oct 2026Exposure draft targeted
Timed for CBD COP17.
Sources: TNFD release, 7 Nov 2025; ISSB work plan; IFRS Foundation nature FAQs
UK law
The nature duties UK law does impose
UK nature law bites on public bodies and on development, not on company annual reports.
| Duty | Who it binds | What it requires | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biodiversity duty (NERC Act s.40) | Every public authority in England | Consider and act to conserve and enhance biodiversity | Biodiversity duty reporting |
| Biodiversity reports (NERC Act s.40A) | Local authorities, planning authorities, designated authorities | Publish a report at least every five years | Biodiversity duty reporting |
| Biodiversity net gain | Developers of land in England | 10% gain, secured for 30 years where significant or off-site | Biodiversity net gain |
| UK SRS via PS26/19 | Listed companies in scope | Report or explain; nature under S1 after a two-year relief | UK SRS requirements |
Section 40 of the NERC Act 2006 places the biodiversity duty on public authorities, and nothing in it, or in the BNG regime, requires a private company to report biodiversity in its annual report.
Development is the exception that reaches companies directly: biodiversity net gain is a condition on most planning permissions in England, overseen alongside Natural England.
Internationally, Target 15 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework asks the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to encourage and enable business disclosure; it does not itself bind companies.
The UK tracks its own progress through the UK Biodiversity Indicators, which were revised in 2025 to align more closely with that framework.
Around TNFD
The other frameworks a nature report touches
| Body | What it offers | How it relates to TNFD |
|---|---|---|
| GRI | Impact-focused sustainability reporting standards, including a biodiversity topic standard | Covers impacts for all stakeholders; TNFD focuses on what is decision-useful for capital providers |
| Science Based Targets Network | Methods for science-based targets for nature | Feeds the metrics and targets pillar |
| Science Based Targets initiative | Validation of corporate climate targets | A different body from SBTN; climate, not nature |
| CDP | Annual environmental questionnaire covering climate, forests and water | CDP's 2026 cycle describes alignment with TNFD and expanded nature coverage |
| IPBES | Intergovernmental science assessments of biodiversity and ecosystem services | The evidence base behind dependencies and impacts |
| UNEP FI | The UN Environment Programme's finance initiative, with a programme on ecosystems and nature | A finance-sector perspective on nature-related risk |
| ISO 14001 | Environmental management system standard | A management system can hold the data; it is not a disclosure framework |
Nature and climate reports share data: land use and deforestation drive emissions, and the climate side is measured with the GHG Protocol and, in the UK, the government’s conversion factors for company reporting, covered on our UK emission factors page.
Banks, insurers and asset managers usually meet nature through their portfolios, where financed emissions follow the PCAF standard, covered in our financial services guide.
UK companies’ existing environmental reporting — energy and carbon under the government’s environmental reporting guidelines, and energy audits under ESOS — gives a nature report its operational baseline.
CDP’s own cycle is covered on our CDP environmental reporting page, and how TCFD maps to UK SRS is on TCFD vs UK SRS.
In practice
Where a UK company starts
Most UK companies meet nature through an existing climate report, so the practical first step is to extend the governance and risk processes already built for TCFD or UK SRS S2.
The locate step is the one that takes time, because it needs site and supplier locations mapped against sensitive ecosystems.
A listed company in scope of PS26/19 can use the two-year S1 relief to build that data before nature-related explanations are expected.
Independent consultancy capability for nature assessments exists, and our sustainability consultancy guide covers how to scope it.
Nature claims need the same discipline as climate claims: a company that offsets its footprint should read our guide to ISO 14068 carbon neutrality before making any nature-positive statement.
To talk through where nature sits in your reporting, you can book a free 15-minute call.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask
What is TNFD?
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures is a market-led initiative that published its final recommendations in September 2023. It sets out 14 recommended disclosures under four pillars — governance, strategy, risk and impact management, and metrics and targets — for reporting nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, and the LEAP approach for assessing them.
Is TNFD mandatory in the UK?
No. TNFD reporting is voluntary in the UK and no government or regulator has set a date to require it. The FRC says any future ISSB material on nature would not apply in the UK automatically and would first need to go through the UK endorsement process. The FRC's technical advisory committee has a nature project at research stage.
What is the TNFD LEAP approach?
LEAP is the TNFD's method for identifying and assessing nature-related issues: Locate your interface with nature, Evaluate your dependencies and impacts, Assess the resulting risks and opportunities, and Prepare to respond and report. It is guidance, not a requirement, and can be applied to a whole business or a single site or product line.
How many organisations have adopted TNFD?
The TNFD 2026 Status Report, published in September 2026, says 802 organisations have committed to making TNFD-aligned disclosures, including financial institutions with USD 26.6 trillion in assets under management. It also says more than 1,000 organisations across 56 countries or areas have published TNFD-aligned reports. Those are different populations and should not be added together.
Is the ISSB writing a nature standard?
Not a new standard. In April 2026 the ISSB decided to propose nature-related requirements as an IFRS Practice Statement that builds on IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 and draws on the TNFD framework. It aims to publish the exposure draft in October 2026 with a 120-day comment period. A Practice Statement is not mandatory unless a jurisdiction requires it.
Does UK SRS require nature-related disclosure?
UK SRS S1 covers any sustainability-related risk or opportunity that could reasonably be expected to affect a company's prospects, which can include nature. Under the FCA's final rules in PS26/19, listed companies in scope report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with a two-year relief for S1 disclosures on matters other than climate.
Is TNFD winding down?
The TNFD announced in November 2025 that it would complete its technical work in progress by the third quarter of 2026 and pause any new technical guidance, to support the ISSB. It said it would conclude its technical programme subject to the outcome of the ISSB's nature standard-setting. The recommendations remain available and in use.
Do UK companies have to report on biodiversity?
Not as a general corporate duty. The statutory biodiversity duty and its reporting requirement bind public authorities, and biodiversity net gain is a planning condition on development. For companies, biodiversity reporting is voluntary and framework-led, through TNFD, GRI or, for EU-linked groups, the European standards.
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.
- TNFDRecommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (v1.0, September 2023)
The 14 recommended disclosures and the four pillars; the recommendations are voluntary.
- TNFDTNFD 2026 Status Report (September 2026), key findings
802 committed organisations; over 1,000 published TNFD-aligned reports across 56 countries or areas.
- TNFDNews release, 7 November 2025 — ISSB decision on nature-related standard-setting
Technical work to complete by Q3 2026; new technical guidance paused.
- IFRS FoundationISSB work plan — Nature-related Disclosures
The Practice Statement project, ballot permission July 2026, 120-day comment period.
- IFRS FoundationNature-related Disclosures: frequently asked questions on the form of standard-setting
"The ISSB aims to publish a Draft IFRS Practice Statement in October 2026."
- FRCSustainability reporting developments: frequently asked questions
New ISSB material would not apply automatically in the UK; it would need UK endorsement.
- FRCUK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee
The committee advising DBT on endorsing IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 (published 25 February 2026)
The UK standards; voluntary unless a regulator requires them.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards (guidance)
The government's endorsement approach.
- FCAPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards (30 September 2026)
Comply-or-explain against UK SRS from 1 January 2027; two-year S1 relief for non-climate matters.
- FCACP26/5 — the consultation PS26/19 finalises
The consultation stage, now superseded by the final rules.
- Convention on Biological DiversityKunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 15
Asks Parties to encourage and enable business disclosure; it does not bind companies.
- legislation.gov.ukNERC Act 2006, section 40 — the biodiversity duty
A duty on public authorities, not on companies.
- Defra / JNCCUK Biodiversity Indicators (accredited official statistics, updated 2 December 2025)
The UK's national biodiversity statistics.
- CDPCDP Disclosure 2026
The 2026 disclosure cycle, including forests, water and nature questions aligned with TNFD.
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