Environmental reporting

There has been a significant growth in environmental reporting instruments globally, with the Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures (TCFD) leading the charge on climate disclosures and the Task Force on Nature-related Disclosures (TNFD) providing a sister framework for nature disclosures. In the UK, the sustainable disclosure requirements (SDR) builds on this further.

For further details, see Practice Notes: Mandatory environmental reporting and disclosure and ESG and sustainability—biodiversity—Reporting and disclosure.

While companies are required to comply with mandatory environmental reporting requirements, many companies are adopting voluntary environmental reporting frameworks to indicate what actions they are taking to address environmental and social issues (such as human rights and modern slavery). There are many diverse drivers for why companies are voluntarily reporting on environmental matters, including to:

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gain a better understanding of its exposure to environmental and climate change risks
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adopt and report on its environmental social governance (ESG) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments
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help it better understand and comply with mandatory reporting requirements
•
demonstrate good practice
•
join an environmental or ethical index
•
respond to elevated stakeholder activism pressuring companies to report on ESG performance
•
provide

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