UK SRS S2:climate-relateddisclosures,explained

In five places, set out in the government response to the UK SRS consultation. Four of them are reliefs.

• No effective date. IFRS S2 applies to annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2024 in jurisdictions that require it. UK SRS S2 carries no date of its own; any start date comes from UK law or regulation.
• The Scope 3 relief has no time limit. IFRS S2 gives a one-year relief from disclosing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. The UK kept the relief and removed the time limit. Limits, if any, are set through law or regulation.
• SASB guidance is ‘may’, not ‘shall’. Where IFRS S2 requires a company to refer to the SASB industry-based guidance, UK SRS S2 makes that reference optional (paragraphs 12, 23 and 32).
• A financed-emissions relief for financial firms. A new paragraph B59A lets asset managers, banks and insurers omit financed emissions where measuring them is impracticable, provided they disclose why and what they plan to do about it.
• The December 2025 ISSB amendment is built in. The ISSB’s targeted amendments to IFRS S2 let financed-emissions disclosure be limited to Scope 3 category 15 and permit classification systems other than GICS, and UK SRS S2 incorporates that change.

One relief lives in S1 but matters most here. Under UK SRS S1 paragraph E3, a company may report on climate-related matters only, without the rest of the sustainability topics S1 covers, and the UK put no time limit on that either. A company using it reports under UK SRS S2 in full and cannot assert compliance with UK SRS S1.

Yes in the standard, with a relief that has no time limit for voluntary users, and for listed companies a one-year relief followed by comply or explain under the FCA's final rules. Three layers, in order:

1. The standard. UK SRS S2 requires disclosure of Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, as IFRS S2 does.
2. The relief. The Scope 3 relief carried over from IFRS S2 has no time limit in the UK version, so a company applying UK SRS S2 voluntarily can use it for as long as no law or regulation sets a limit.
3. The FCA's rules. For listed companies in scope of PS26/19, Scope 3 may be left out for the first year of application, provided the company states it is using the relief. After that, Scope 3 falls under comply or explain like the rest of UK SRS S2: disclose, or state what was not met, why, and what you plan to do about it.

For banks, insurers and asset managers, financed emissions sit inside Scope 3, and paragraph B59A adds the further relief described above.

What this does not say: that Scope 3 is optional. Relief use has to be stated, comply or explain has to be explained, and the FCA's rules do not stop a company that already reports Scope 3 under the TCFD-aligned rules from continuing to do so.

Listed companies in five FCA listing categories, from accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, on a comply-or-explain basis. Three routes, at different stages.

Listed companies, through the FCA. Policy Statement PS26/19, published 30 September 2026, replaces the TCFD-aligned listing rules with UK SRS for companies in the commercial companies, transition, non-equity and non-voting equity shares, international secondary listing, and depositary receipts categories. The FCA consulted on making UK SRS S2 mandatory and settled on comply or explain across both standards instead. First reports are due in 2028. A company that does not disclose in accordance with UK SRS S2, or does so only in part, states which requirements were not met, why, and what it plans to do.

Companies already making climate-related financial disclosures under the Companies Act. The government has confirmed that UK SRS S2 is a national reporting framework for the purposes of section 414CB(6) of the Companies Act 2006, so a company with that existing duty can meet it by reporting under UK SRS S2.

Everyone else. No proposal exists. The Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation, open until 30 November 2026, says the government will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act and proposes no scope, thresholds or dates.

The applicability page works through which of the three you are: check whether UK SRS applies to you.

UK SRS S2. UK SRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, the UK's endorsed version of IFRS S2, published 25 February 2026.

Scope 3 relief. The relief from disclosing Scope 3 emissions, carried over from IFRS S2. No time limit for voluntary users; one year under the FCA's rules.

Paragraph B59A. The UK addition that lets asset managers, banks and insurers omit financed emissions where impracticable, with reasons and plans disclosed.

Comply or explain. Disclose in accordance with UK SRS S2, or state which requirements were not met, why, and what you plan to do. The basis of the FCA's final rules for listed companies.