UK SRS · Endorsement
UK SRS endorsement: how IFRS S1 and S2 became UK SRS
UK SRS was published on 25 February 2026, when the Secretary of State for Business and Trade issued UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2, the UK’s endorsed versions of the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.
The changes the UK made are few, and almost all loosen rather than tighten, but one of them decides how the FCA’s final rules work.
This page traces the endorsement from the 2024 advice to the 2026 standards, lists what changed, and shows how PS26/19 uses what the standards left open.
The process
From ISSB standard to UK standard
The ISSB issued IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 in June 2023; they reach the UK only through endorsement.
The UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee, with the FRC as its secretariat, assessed them and recommended endorsement, publishing its recommendations on 18 December 2024.
It recommended minor amendments, including extending the climate-first relief from one year to two, and a change to IFRS S2’s reference to the Global Industry Classification Standard for financed emissions.
Neither of those survived in that form, as the table below shows.
The government consulted on exposure drafts from 25 June to 17 September 2025, and 68% of the 184 who answered the question agreed with the TAC’s four amendments.
The final standards were issued on 25 February 2026, and state that they “have not been prepared or endorsed by the International Sustainability Standards Board”.
How the consultation fits with the FCA’s is on the UK SRS consultation, and every date in order on the UK SRS timeline.
The endorsement, step by step
- May 2024TAC commissioned
The minister asks the UK Sustainability Disclosure TAC to assess IFRS S1 and S2.
- 5 Dec 2024TAC agrees its recommendations
At a public meeting.
- 18 Dec 2024Recommendations published
Endorse, with minor amendments.
- 25 Jun – 17 Sep 2025Exposure drafts consulted on
209 responses.
- 5 Jan 2026DBT writes to the FCA
Relief time limits to be removed from the standards.
- 25 Feb 2026UK SRS S1 and S2 issued
With the government response.
Sources: FRC; DBT
What changed
Where UK SRS differs from IFRS S1 and S2
The authoritative list is Annex A of the government response: “Where requirements in the standards are not included in the table, there are no differences between the two.”
| IFRS | UK SRS | The difference | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 E1–E2; S2 C1–C2 | S1 E2; S2 C2 | Effective dates removed; entities apply the standards when they choose, unless required by UK law or regulation. S1 and S2 are still applied at the same time. | Looser |
| S1 E5 | S1 E3, E5, 73A | Climate-first relief kept, with no time limit; availability to be set by legislation or regulation. A user may not assert compliance with UK SRS S1. | Looser |
| S2 C4 | S2 C3, C4, C6 | Scope 3 relief kept with no time limit (C4); the GHG Protocol method relief kept for the first year only (C3). | Looser |
| S1 E4 | Not applicable | The relief to publish sustainability disclosures after the financial statements in the first year removed. | Stricter timing |
| S1 55(a), 58(a); S2 12, 23, 32 | Same paragraphs | SASB Standards and industry-based guidance: “shall refer to and consider” becomes “may”. | Looser |
| — | S1 73A, 73B | Added: how the compliance statement works with the reliefs; application subject to the Companies Act, FCA rules and other UK requirements. | Clarifying |
| — | S2 B59A | Added: explain why, if it is impracticable to estimate financed emissions for the reporting period. | Stricter |
The government consulted on six proposed amendments, and no count of the final differences exists: some proposals were not adopted and other provisions were added after the consultation.
The GICS change the TAC recommended was withdrawn because the ISSB made it itself in December 2025.
The two-year climate-first relief was replaced by removing the time limit altogether.
Paragraphs 73A, 73B, E5 and B59A were added after the exposure drafts.
The use of SASB Standards is now optional in the UK, which lowers the research burden for first-time reporters at some cost to comparability within an industry.
What the final standards require, pillar by pillar, is on UK SRS requirements.
Absorbed, not authored
The ISSB’s December 2025 amendments are in UK SRS S2
In December 2025 the ISSB amended IFRS S2’s greenhouse gas requirements, as recorded in its 2025 news.
UK SRS S2 was issued afterwards, so the government included those amendments in it rather than issuing the standard and amending it later.
Annex A says the amendments “have themselves been included in UK SRS S2 and are fully consistent”, and that added paragraphs follow the ISSB’s structure “to avoid discrepancies in overall paragraph numbering”.
On 5 January 2026 DBT had told the FCA it would review the ISSB’s amendments “with a view to incorporate them”, in its letter.
So a body paragraph reference is safe across IFRS S2 and UK SRS S2; the transition appendices are not, because they were renumbered.
The originals are on the IFRS Sustainability Standards Navigator.
The amended paragraphs — 29(a)(ii), 29(a)(vi)(2), B21–B22, B24, B28, B37, B59, B62(a) and B63(a) — and the added 29A–29C, B62A and B63A are the ISSB’s.
Listing them as UK modifications is the second commonest error on this subject.
The change that matters most
Untimed reliefs, timed by the FCA
The amendment with the most practical effect is the removal of the relief durations from the standards.
DBT explained it in its letter of 5 January 2026: timing “will be set out in government regulations (Companies Act) or FCA rules (where relevant)”.
For a voluntary user, the FRC says, that means the reliefs can be used “without time limits, indefinitely”.
For listed companies, the FCA has now set the clock: PS26/19 says the time-bound reliefs “are no longer set out in the final UK SRS standards”, so its own rules specify them.
It kept a one-year Scope 3 relief and a two-year climate-first relief, from the first period beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
UK SRS S1 ¶73A sets the price of the climate-first relief: a company using it may not assert compliance with UK SRS S1, though it may with UK SRS S2.
How the FCA applies all this is on UK SRS and the FCA, and what a listed company does with the reliefs on UK SRS comply or explain.
| Relief | In the standard | Under the FCA rules |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 3 (UK SRS S2 ¶C4) | No time limit | First period only (UKLR TP 16.4R) |
| Climate-first (UK SRS S1 ¶E3) | No time limit | First two periods (UKLR TP 16.4R–16.5R) |
| GHG Protocol method (UK SRS S2 ¶C3) | First year | First period (UKLR TP 16.4R(3)) |
| Comparatives (UK SRS S1 ¶E1; S2 ¶C1) | First period | First period (PS26/19 ¶3.25) |
What it means
Three consequences of the way the UK endorsed
First, voluntary adoption is now a positioning decision, not a compliance one.
The standards are available for voluntary use in whole or in part, and with untimed reliefs a company can report climate first under UK SRS S2 and say so.
Second, the rules that give the standards force were written by the FCA, and they were written after the standards.
CP26/5 was published on 30 January 2026, 26 days before the final standards, and described the exposure-draft reliefs; PS26/19 of 30 September 2026 describes the final ones.
Third, the private-company question stays open: the government’s Modernising corporate reporting consultation of 7 September 2026 says only that it will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act.
Our earlier commentary on the Policy Statement’s timing, the FCA Policy Statement, is now a record of what PS26/19 decided.
The status of every UK SRS workstream is on UK SRS news and status, and the FCA’s list of consultation papers carries CP26/5.
Frequently asked
UK SRS endorsement — frequently asked
When were the final UK SRS published?
On 25 February 2026. UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 were issued by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, together with the government response to the exposure-draft consultation, which received 209 responses. They are available for voluntary use from that date by any entity, in whole or in part.
What does endorsement mean for UK SRS?
Endorsement is the UK process of assessing an ISSB standard and adopting it for use in the UK, with or without modification. The UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee recommended endorsement of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 in December 2024, the government consulted on exposure drafts in 2025, and it issued UK SRS S1 and S2 in February 2026. The standards state that they have not been prepared or endorsed by the ISSB.
What are the main differences between UK SRS and IFRS S1 and S2?
The authoritative list is Annex A of the government response, which carries no count. The effective dates were removed; the Scope 3 and climate-first reliefs lost their time limits; the IFRS S1 relief allowing sustainability disclosures after the financial statements was removed; references to SASB Standards and industry-based guidance changed from "shall" to "may"; UK SRS S1 paragraphs 73A and 73B were added on compliance statements and UK law; and UK SRS S2 paragraph B59A adds a duty to explain where financed emissions cannot be estimated.
How many UK amendments are there to IFRS S1 and S2?
No authoritative count exists. The government consulted on six proposed amendments in June 2025, but the final set differs: the proposed GICS change was withdrawn after the ISSB made it itself in December 2025, the two-year climate-first relief was replaced by removing the time limit altogether, and other provisions were added after consultation. Annex A lists the final differences without numbering them.
What happens to the transitional reliefs under the FCA rules?
The standards keep the reliefs but give most of them no time limit, leaving the duration to legislation or regulation. The FCA's final rules, PS26/19, set it for listed companies: one year for Scope 3 and two years for the climate-first relief from UK SRS S1, from the first period beginning on or after 1 January 2027. A voluntary user outside the listing rules can use the reliefs without a time limit.
Did the UK adopt the ISSB's December 2025 amendments?
Yes. UK SRS S2 was issued after the ISSB amended IFRS S2 in December 2025, and the government included those amendments in it. They are the ISSB's changes, not UK modifications, and the government lists the affected paragraphs in Annex A so that paragraph numbering stays consistent with IFRS S2.
Can companies use UK SRS now?
Yes. Any entity may report against UK SRS in full or in part from 25 February 2026. Listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 must report against it on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, and may adopt it early for earlier periods.
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.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 — publication page
Published 25 February 2026.
- Department for Business and TradeUK Sustainability Reporting Standards — guidance
"Available for voluntary use, by any entity that chooses to do so."
- Department for Business and TradeGovernment response to the UK SRS exposure-draft consultation
Annex A — the S1 and S2 difference tables; ¶1.6 response counts; ¶1.17 support for the TAC amendments; Chapter 3 (s.414CB(6), s.463).
- Department for Business and TradeGovernment response to the UK SRS consultation (PDF)
The same response as a PDF, with Annex A on pp. 29–34.
- Department for Business and TradeExposure drafts: UK Sustainability Reporting Standards — consultation
25 June to 17 September 2025; 209 responses.
- Department for Business and TradeLetter from DBT to the FCA on finalising UK SRS (PDF)
5 January 2026: relief timing to be set by FCA rules or government regulations.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 General Requirements (PDF)
¶¶3, 18 (materiality), 25 (core content), 60–64 (location and timing), 72–73B (compliance statement), E3 (climate-first).
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures (PDF)
¶29 (GHG Protocol measurement), B59A (financed emissions), C3–C4 (first-year and Scope 3 reliefs).
- Financial Reporting CouncilUK Sustainability TAC issues final recommendations
Published 18 December 2024; agreed 5 December 2024; commission May 2024.
- Financial Reporting CouncilSustainability reporting developments — FAQs
Voluntary reporters “can use reliefs without time limits, indefinitely”.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS Sustainability Standards Navigator
IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, the ISSB baseline.
- IFRS FoundationIFRS news, 2025
The ISSB’s December 2025 amendments to IFRS S2 greenhouse gas requirements.
- IFRS FoundationSASB Standards
Industry-based standards UK SRS says an entity “may” refer to.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards (PDF)
How the FCA applies the reliefs: response to Questions 13–14, ¶¶3.14–3.24, UKLR TP 16.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityCP26/5 consultation paper (PDF)
The consultation of 30 January 2026, written before the final standards existed.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityFCA consultation papers
The FCA’s list of consultation papers, including CP26/5.