What is UK SRS? UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2, explained

UK SRS stands for UK Sustainability Reporting Standards. There are two: UK SRS S1, the general requirements for disclosing sustainability-related financial information, and UK SRS S2, on climate-related disclosures. They are the UK versions of the ISSB's IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, issued by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on 25 February 2026.

UK SRS S1 sets the framework for reporting any sustainability-related risk or opportunity that could reasonably be expected to affect a company's cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital. UK SRS S2 applies that framework to climate and adds specific requirements, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions and climate scenario analysis. The two are applied together.

Not in the sense of a flat legal duty. The standards are available for voluntary use by any entity. The FCA's final rules in PS26/19, published on 30 September 2026, require listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 to report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. No other UK entity is required to use UK SRS.

No. UK SRS S1 and S2 are standards, not an Act or a statutory instrument. The obligation for listed companies comes from the FCA's listing rules, made as the UK Listing Rules (Sustainability Reporting Standards Disclosure) Instrument 2026 on 24 September 2026 and in force from 1 January 2027. Separately, UK SRS S2 can be used to meet the Companies Act climate-related financial disclosure duty in section 414CB. The government says it will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act.

A listed company in scope either includes disclosures prepared in accordance with UK SRS in its annual financial report, or states what it has not disclosed and why. For UK SRS S2 the statement summarises the requirements not met, gives the reasons and sets out any steps planned. The FCA's final rules apply this approach across both standards.

No. The government has published two UK standards, UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2. Any new or amended standard from the ISSB would not apply in the UK automatically; the FRC says it would first need to go through the UK's endorsement process.

Single, financial materiality. UK SRS S1 paragraph 3 covers risks and opportunities that could reasonably be expected to affect the entity's cash flows, its access to finance or cost of capital, and paragraph 18 judges materiality by the decisions of primary users of general purpose financial reports. The EU's CSRD uses double materiality, which also covers the company's impacts on people and the environment.

Almost, but not word for word. The UK endorsed the ISSB standards with changes listed in Annex A of the government's consultation response: SASB and industry-guidance references became optional, the effective dates were removed, two reliefs lost their time limits, and paragraph B59A on financed emissions was added. Compliance with UK SRS is not automatically compliance with the ISSB standards.

For listed companies in scope, the FCA's rules apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with first reports in 2028. A one-year Scope 3 relief and a two-year relief for non-climate UK SRS S1 disclosures apply from initial application. For everyone else UK SRS has been available for voluntary use since 25 February 2026.