Climate related publications

Reporting on climate-change continues to be an area of specific focus for investors, regulators and other business stakeholders who are increasingly expecting clearer, more specific and quantified disclosures on material climate-related risks and opportunities affected businesses.

Whilst premium-listed commercial companies and companies with a standard listing of shares or Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) representing equity shares will now be familiar with providing climate-related financial disclosures consistent with the the recommendations and recommended disclosures of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) on a ‘comply or explain’ basis, new Climate-related Financial Disclosure Regulations ("CFD Regulations") will affect entities with a 31 December year-end for the first time in 2023.

These Regulations, approved by the UK Government in January 2022, require UK public interest entities, Alternative Investment Market (AIM) companies, banking and traded LLPs, and other UK companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) with more than £500m turnover to make climate-related financial disclosures with exemptions for companies and LLPs with 500 or fewer employees. Many companies in the scope of TCFD disclosures under the Listing Rules will also be in scope of the CFD Regulations and therefore need to ensure that their disclosures comply with those requirements as well. Non-binding guidance issued by the UK government sets out expectations as to what should be disclosed and will help in-scope entities comply with these new requirements.

Both the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in its thematic reviews TCFD disclosures and climate in the financial statements and TCFD – metrics and targets and the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA's) Review of TCFD-aligned disclosures by premium listed commercial companies set out their disclosure expectations in this area. They expect businesses to consider climate-related matters and their effects when providing a balanced and comprehensive analysis of their position and performance, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has also announced that it will focus on climate-related matters as part of its Common Enforcement Priorities for 2023 financial statements.

Additionally an FRC Lab report provides key messages for those companies making net zero commitments with a number of key messages reiterated within the FRC's Annual Review of Corporate Reporting 2022/23.

Whilst climate reporting is improving, regulators will be looking for continued improvement in 2023 and the FRC has indicated that this coming reporting season, as reporting becomes more established, the it is likely to enter into substantive correspondence with companies where their disclosures do not meet its expectations.

Looking forwards, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has published its first two standards: IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures. The UK Government, in its 2023 Green Finance Strategy, reaffirmed its intention to adopt these standards for use in the UK, following a formal assessment of the standards and has stated its intention to finalise the endorsement decision on the ISSB standards in 2024. Once endorsed, consideration will then be given to the scope and timing of mandatory adoption of UK-endorsed ISSB standards for UK entities, with a phased implementation being considered.  In August 2023 the FCA announced plans to consult on proposals to update the Listing Rules to refer to UK-endorsed ISSB standards and is aiming to finalise its policy position on this matter by the end of 2024, with new requirements taking effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2025.

This page includes all of our publications on the financial reporting impacts of climate change. 

Related publications

Need to know — SEC adopts rule that requires climate-related disclosures

20 Mar, 2024

In March 2024, the SEC adopted a final rule that requires registrants to provide climate-related disclosures in their annual reports and registration statements. This newsletter explains the contents of the rule.

Deloitte comment letter on GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate Change — 'Climate Change' and 'Energy' exposure drafts

05 Mar, 2024

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited welcomes the opportunity to respond to the 'Climate Change' and 'Energy' exposure drafts (EDs) issued by the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). There is increasing focus by stakeholders on the actions being taken by entities to support commitments made to address climate change. We agree, therefore, that the matters addressed in the EDs should be reflected in the GRI Standards.

Need to know — EU Taxonomy

28 Feb, 2024

This Need to know discusses the EU Taxonomy Regulation that the EU has implemented as part of its broader sustainable finance strategy. The EU Taxonomy is a classification system of economic activities that can be considered ‘environmentally sustainable’ with one (or more) of the six EU environmental objectives laid out in the Regulation. The Regulation sets mandatory requirements on disclosure for those in scope of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) (and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) once it comes into effect). Non-EU entities that have debt or equity securities traded on EU regulated markets may be in scope as a result of the rules of the specific EU regulated market. If not, they will be brought into scope once the CSRD comes into effect.

Stay Tuned Online — January 2024

31 Jan, 2024

Stay Tuned Online is an online corporate reporting update, aimed at helping finance teams keep up to speed with narrative, governance and financial reporting issues. Each update lasts about an hour.

Accounting roundup — January 2024

30 Jan, 2024

This Accounting roundup, covering the period October 2023 through to December 2023, pulls together the headlines for all the latest developments in accounting, providing links to a wealth of further information and resources.

Need to know — California Climate Legislation

18 Jan, 2024

In October 2023, the California Governor signed into law two state senate bills and one assembly bill. The senate bills collectively require certain public and private US companies doing business in California to provide both quantitative and qualitative climate disclosures. The assembly bill is intended to combat entities’ “greenwashing” of climate-related emission claims. This newsletter explains the content of the bills.

Deloitte comment letter on DESNZ call for evidence on Scope 3 Emissions

11 Jan, 2024

We have published our comment letter on the call for evidence on Scope 3 Emissions in the UK Reporting Landscape issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).

Governance in focus — On the board agenda 2024

22 Dec, 2023

In the current environment, boards continue to be faced with challenges across all aspects of their remit making effective decision making ever more difficult as different stakeholders pull focus in different directions. Many companies are grappling with forecasting demand and pricing, supply chain disruption, other input cost pressures and challenges in attracting and retaining talent. At the same time boards, have to work hard to keep pace with developments in technology in order to remain ahead of both the opportunities and threats posed by innovations such as Generative AI.

Accounting roundup — Closing Out

12 Dec, 2023

Closing Out is a one stop guide covering key corporate reporting issues to be aware of when approaching year-end and interim reporting.

Need to know — Areas of Focus for Corporate Reporting (November 2023)

13 Nov, 2023

This 'Need to know' sets out financial reporting issues that may be relevant in view of the current economic and geopolitical environment and also highlights areas of regulatory focus and recent changes in accounting standards. The topics contained within this publication will be relevant to all companies preparing annual reports and accounts as well as half-yearly reporters. This 'Need to know' should be read in conjunction with Closing Out 2022 and the Financial Reporting council’s (FRC’s) latest Annual Review of Corporate Reporting which contain additional topics for UK entities to consider including reporting expectations and areas of regulatory focus.

Need to know — TNFD publishes final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure

31 Oct, 2023

This Need to know outlines the final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure (Version 1.0), published by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) in September 2023. These recommendations aim to help businesses start measuring, managing and disclosing their nature-related impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities

Need to know — Transition Plan Taskforce publishes final disclosure framework on climate transition plans

25 Oct, 2023

This Need to know discusses the Transition Plan Taskforce’s (TPT) Disclosure Framework and implementation guidance. It also summarises the expected forthcoming consultations and next steps to introduce UK disclosure requirements related to transition plans.

Deloitte comment letter on the UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee’s call for evidence on the UK endorsement of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2

20 Oct, 2023

We have published our response to the UK Sustainability Disclosure Technical Advisory Committee’s (UK SDTAC’s) call for evidence on the UK endorsement of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 (“the call for evidence”). 

Accounting roundup — October 2023

20 Oct, 2023

This Accounting roundup, covering the period July 2023 through to September 2023, pulls together the headlines for all the latest developments in accounting, providing links to a wealth of further information and resources.

Need to know — European Sustainability Reporting Standards finalised

19 Oct, 2023

This Need to know outlines the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), adopted by the European Commission (EC) on 31 July 2023 in Commission Delegated Regulation supplementing Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards sustainability reporting standards

Governance in focus — On the board agenda 2023: Autumn regulatory update

13 Sep, 2023

This autumn, macro topics once again dominate, with boards focusing on forecasting demand and pricing, supply chain disruption, other input cost pressures and challenges in attracting and retaining talent. On top of these areas, there continue to be many moving parts in the governance landscape and reform agenda, and so this Autumn Regulatory Update is designed to meet two objectives: - provide a status update on the regulatory landscape boards need to navigate, and - help you set the agenda for the remainder of the year. We recognise that you have many important business topics on the agenda, but as you plan your board and audit committee agendas for the remainder of 2023 we hope you find this publication useful. To help you explore topics further we provide links both to Deloitte and external source materials.

Corporate Reporting Insights: Climate Transition Plan Disclosures

27 Jul, 2023

Corporate Reporting Insights (CRI) helps boards navigate new disclosure requirements, emerging practices, and growing expectations for greater transparency and accountability.

Accounting roundup — July 2023

26 Jul, 2023

This Accounting roundup, covering the period April 2023 through to June 2023, pulls together the headlines for all the latest developments in accounting, providing links to a wealth of further information and resources.

Need to know — Areas of Focus for Corporate Reporting (July 2023)

24 Jul, 2023

This Need to know sets out financial reporting issues that may be relevant in view of the current economic and geopolitical environment and also highlights areas of regulatory focus and recent changes in accounting standards. The topics contained within this publication will be relevant to all companies preparing annual reports and accounts, including June 2023 half-yearly reporters. This Need to know should be read in conjunction with Closing Out 2022 which contains additional topics for UK entities to consider including areas of regulatory focus and reporting expectations highlighted by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in its latest Annual Review of Corporate Reporting and its most recent thematic reviews.

Deloitte comment letter on the draft methodology for improving the international applicability of the SASB standards

21 Jul, 2023

We support the proposals to prioritise a narrow scope of work to internationalise the SASB Standards as necessary. In undertaking this exercise, we encourage the ISSB to consider the needs of the many entities that already report using the SASB Standards and avoid, to the extent possible, the need for entities to have to revisit the disclosure they already made. More generally, we consider industry-specific considerations to be an integral part of reporting on sustainability-related risks and opportunities. Therefore, notwithstanding our support for the proposals in the ED, we think it is essential that the ISSB sets out a vision for the eventual architecture of its standards, which should include industry-specific requirements alongside general requirements and topical standards, together with a strategy to bring industry-specific requirements formally into the ISSB’s standards.

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.