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      Highlights

      – What's the latest status?

      – What's the impact?

      – Actions for management

      Companies can expect further clarity on how to report on a broad spectrum of nature-related topics under IFRS® Sustainability Disclosure Standards.

      In March 2026, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) decided to enhance IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information by adding incremental guidance on nature-related transition plans and targets, and by referring to SASB and other established standards for metrics.

      The decisions aim to enhance interoperability with other standards, while recognising that market practice and investor needs around nature-related disclosures are still developing. The Nature-related Disclosures1 exposure draft is expected in October 2026.

      Barbara Zonneveld
      Barbara Zonneveld

      Sustainability Reporting Director

      KPMG International

      IFRS S1 already requires reporting on all material sustainability-related risks and opportunities, yet the growing investor focus on nature-related topics warrants more targeted guidance. Clearer guidance would help companies prepare consistent nature-specific disclosures that promote high-quality reporting and informed decision-making.

      Barbara Zonneveld

      Sustainability Reporting Director

      What's the latest status?

      The ISSB is meeting regularly to develop proposals that supplement IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and related SASB industry guidance with new nature-specific requirements and guidance, building on the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) recommendations. In March 2026, the ISSB decided to add incremental guidance on nature-related transition plans and targets, and to refer to SASB and other standards for nature-related metrics.

      The table below summarises the decisions to date.

       

      Focus areaISSB decisions
      Project scope​
      • The proposals would focus on nature-related risks and opportunities. As a result, the project was renamed from ‘BEES’ to ‘Nature-related Disclosures’ in February 2026.  ​
      Transition plans​

      • Companies would need to report on how they are transitioning their business to manage nature-related risks and opportunities. However, companies would not need to disclose a formal transition plan.​

      Metrics​
      • The proposals would not introduce cross-industry nature-related metrics at this point. Instead, the ISSB proposes to update and enhance nature-related requirements in SASB industry-based standards. ​
      • However, it may add the TNFD as a source of guidance for companies to identify relevant cross-industry metrics.​
      Targets and regulatory alignment ​
      • The proposals would not include requirements for specific nature-related targets. Instead, the ISSB proposes to add guidance and examples to IFRS S1 to explain what nature-related targets might look like.​
      • Companies can also expect guidance on disclosing location-specific information for targets and a requirement to disclose whether and how local laws and regulations have informed any such targets.​
      Defined terms​
      • The project’s scope would encompass nature-related risks and opportunities, aligning with the scope of IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures for climate-related risks and opportunities, and would also draw on the TNFD recommendations.  ​
      • Other important terms such as ecosystem services and environmental assets, used under the TNFD to explain the benefits and resources nature provides, would also be defined. ​
      • The ISSB also intends to issue guidance on key concepts and terms such as nature, dependencies on nature and impacts on nature. ​
      Climate-nature nexus​
      • Companies can expect targeted guidance on how to apply the existing connected information requirements in IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, rather than a new set of standalone disclosure requirements.​
      • This proposed guidance would help companies explain the effects of climate-nature connections on a company’s risk profile; trade-offs between actions that address climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities; and synergies from addressing them together. ​

      What’s the impact?

      Although companies already need to report material nature-related information under IFRS S1 (after their first year of reporting3), this project aims to help them do so more effectively. 

      Companies would have comprehensive support to apply IFRS S1, IFRS S2 and related SASB industry guidance to a broad spectrum of nature-related topics. These could include land use, pollution, resource extraction, water and biodiversity.

      The ISSB has agreed to build on the work of the TNFD – established as a popular framework for nature-related reporting – and to align with European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the Global Reporting Initiative4.

      By taking a holistic approach to a broad range of nature-related risks and opportunities, IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards would differ from ESRS, which set separate standards for individual topics. The proposals will take time to develop and, once finalised, will need to be endorsed locally to become effective. An exposure draft is expected in October 2026, to be followed by a period of public consultation and revision. It is not yet known what form the new disclosure requirements would take. They could be introduced as application guidance to IFRS S1, as a new standard or through another mechanism.

      Actions for management

      • Bookmark and revisit this page to stay informed about the project, including the exposure draft expected in October 2026. 
      • Understand how your company is exposed to nature-related risks and opportunities. If you are exposed, consider how TNFD recommendation materials can help you to report, given that the ISSB is building its requirements and guidance on TNFD.

      1 The project was formerly known as Biodiversity, Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services (BEES).

      2 The TNFD 2025 Status Report indicated that investors increasingly recognise the presence of nature-related risk in their portfolios and that over 50 percent of those interviewed were “very concerned” about the impact of nature-related loss on financial markets.

      3 The ‘climate-first’ exemption in IFRS S1 allows companies to report only on climate-related risks and opportunities for the first year of reporting.

      4 See press release from TNFD which welcomes ISSB decision on nature-related standard setting.

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