What is UK SRS? S1 and S2 explained

UK SRS, defined

UK SRS stands for the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards. They are the UK-endorsed versions of the two sustainability disclosure standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board — IFRS S1 and IFRS S2^[4].

There are two of them. UK SRS S1 is the general standard for sustainability-related financial disclosures; UK SRS S2 is the climate-specific standard^[2].

The Department for Business and Trade published both on 25 February 2026 for voluntary use, alongside its response to the earlier exposure-draft consultation^[1].

They are not yet mandatory. Any company applying UK SRS today is doing so voluntarily; the question of who must use them, and from when, sits with the FCA and is covered further down this page^[3].

UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 compared

S1 and S2 are designed to work as a coordinated pair. S1 provides the general requirements that apply to every sustainability topic; S2 takes that architecture and adds the climate-specific detail, including greenhouse-gas emissions^[2].

In practice most reporters meet S2 first — climate is the most developed topic and the one the FCA proposes to mandate first^[3].

For the climate standard in depth, see our UK SRS S2 climate disclosures guide, and for a clause-level walk-through of what both standards require, the UK SRS requirements reference.

The four-pillar structure

Both standards are organised around the same four pillars, inherited from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures^[6] and carried through the ISSB into UK SRS^[5].

Governance. The board and management processes used to oversee and manage sustainability risks and opportunities^[2].

Strategy. How those risks and opportunities affect the business model, strategy and financial planning, including, for climate, scenario analysis^[2].

Risk management. How the entity identifies, assesses, prioritises and monitors sustainability risks, and how that fits its wider enterprise risk management^[2].

Metrics and targets. The data used to measure and manage performance — for S2 this includes Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse-gas emissions^[2].

The lineage: TCFD to ISSB to UK SRS

UK SRS did not appear from nowhere.

It is the latest stage in a decade-long convergence of climate and sustainability disclosure that runs through three distinct bodies.

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures published its final recommendations in October 2017 and gave the field its four-pillar structure. The TCFD was disbanded in October 2023, its work having been absorbed into the ISSB framework^[6].

The International Sustainability Standards Board issued IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 on 26 June 2023, consolidating the TCFD recommendations into a single global baseline^[4].

The UK then endorsed those two standards, publishing UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 on 25 February 2026 with six UK-specific amendments^[1].

For a direct comparison of the old UK regime against the new one, see our TCFD vs UK SRS analysis, and for how the endorsement worked, our UK SRS endorsement explainer.

Enterprise-value materiality

UK SRS uses a single materiality test: enterprise value. A matter is in scope if it could reasonably be expected to affect the entity’s enterprise value — its prospects, cash flows and access to finance — over the short, medium or long term^[5].

This is an outside-in, investor-focused lens. It asks how the world affects the company, not how the company affects the world^[5].

That distinguishes UK SRS from the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, which applies double materiality — both financial materiality and the company’s impact on people and the environment^[7].

The six UK amendments

UK SRS is closely aligned with IFRS S1 and S2. The government made six UK-specific amendments to fit UK law and listing rules — designed to make the standards easier to apply, not to cut the volume of disclosure^[1].

The headline changes adjust the first-year timing relief, extend the climate-first transition relief to up to two years, allow alternative industry-classification systems for financed emissions instead of mandating the Global Industry Classification Standard, and remove the ISSB effective-date clauses so that mandatory timing is set by UK regulation rather than baked into the standards^[1].

Crucially, none of the amendments change the materiality basis: UK SRS retains the single, enterprise-value approach of IFRS S1 and S2^[5].

For the detail of how the standards were endorsed and amended, see our UK SRS consultation tracker.

Scope and timeline

Publication made UK SRS available; it did not make them compulsory. The standards are voluntary for every entity today^[3].

The FCA’s consultation CP26/5 proposes the first mandatory use. It would require around 500 primary-listed companies — those in UK Listing Rules categories 6, 16 and 22 — to report against UK SRS S2 for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027^[3].

Scope 3 emissions would follow on a comply-or-explain basis from 1 January 2028, and UK SRS S1 from 1 January 2029^[3].

These remain proposals until the FCA publishes its Policy Statement, expected in autumn 2026. A separate government consultation on extending UK SRS to large private companies is expected during 2026^[3].

For the full scope picture and the regulatory mechanics, see our UK SRS and the FCA analysis and the UK SRS deadline tracker.

What is UK SRS: frequently asked questions