The UK SRS report: what it contains, and who files one

An SRS report is a set of sustainability-related financial disclosures prepared under the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards: UK SRS S1, the general requirements, and UK SRS S2, the climate-related disclosures. The Department for Business and Trade published both on 25 February 2026. The disclosures are part of the entity's general purpose financial reports, published at the same time as its financial statements and for the same reporting entity.

UK SRS is the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, the UK's endorsed versions of the ISSB's IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. The UK versions differ from the ISSB text only where Annex A of the government's consultation response says so; the most visible difference is that the UK removed the effective dates, so the standards apply only when a law, a regulator or the entity itself says so.

Not for most entities. The standards are available for voluntary use by any UK entity. On 30 September 2026 the FCA published final rules in PS26/19 requiring listed companies in scope to report against UK SRS on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. That is an obligation to report or to explain why not, across S1 and S2, not a mandate to make every disclosure. No UK law requires a private company to report against UK SRS.

Under PS26/19, companies with listings in the commercial companies (UKLR 6), secondary listing (UKLR 14), depositary receipts (UKLR 15), non-equity and non-voting equity shares (UKLR 16) and transition (UKLR 22) categories. Closed-ended investment funds, open-ended investment companies, shell companies, debt and debt-like securities, securitised derivatives and miscellaneous securities are excluded. The FCA's consultation, CP26/5, estimated that around 600 listed companies would be affected.

For listed companies in scope, the FCA's rules apply to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with first reporting in 2028. A company with a 31 December year end reports on its 2027 year in its 2027 annual financial report, published in 2028. A company may adopt UK SRS voluntarily before then.

UK SRS S2 paragraph 29(a) asks for absolute gross Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions measured under the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. For listed companies, PS26/19 applies comply or explain to Scope 3 like every other disclosure, and gives a one-year relief during which a company only states that it is using the relief. In the standard itself, the Scope 3 relief at UK SRS S2 paragraph C4 carries no time limit for voluntary users.

Two: UK SRS S1 (general requirements for disclosure of sustainability-related financial information) and UK SRS S2 (climate-related disclosures). There is no UK SRS S3. The government consulted on six proposed amendments to the ISSB text in June 2025; the final differences are set out in Annex A of its consultation response, which carries no count.

No. SECR remains in force for quoted companies, large unquoted companies and large LLPs. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's 2026 post-implementation review, published on 26 May 2026, recommended retaining SECR with amendments, and the department has said it will consider how UK SRS emissions data interacts with SECR to reduce unnecessary duplication where possible.

No. PS26/19 does not require assurance; where a listed company obtains it, the company names the provider, which disclosures were assured and the assurance standards used. ISSA (UK) 5000, issued by the FRC on 12 November 2025 for voluntary use, is effective for engagements on periods beginning on or after 15 December 2026, and governs how an engagement is performed rather than whether one is needed.

It is this site's daily, UK-angled coverage of sustainability reporting news: UK SRS, SECR, ESOS, TCFD, CDP and the carbon market. Every story names and links its original source, and drafts are AI-assisted and reviewed by a person before they publish, as the editorial policy sets out.