Europe
The sustainability reporting landscape in Europe continues to evolve, with a strong focus on balancing transparency requirements with reporting efficiency.
Key developments include the European Commission’s adoption of revised ESRS, significantly streamlining reporting requirements while preserving decision-useful disclosures on climate, biodiversity, human rights, and governance. The accompanying voluntary standard for smaller companies further aims to reduce value-chain reporting burdens and improve proportionality for businesses outside the CSRD scope.
In parallel, EFRAG’s consultation on the proposed ESRS-40a standard signals the next phase of sustainability reporting, extending transparency expectations to certain non-EU companies with significant EU activities. Together, these initiatives reflect ongoing efforts to enhance the usability, comparability, and proportionality of sustainability disclosures while broadening the scope of corporate transparency across the European market.
North America & South America
The sustainability reporting landscape in North America continues to evolve, with regulators and standard setters advancing climate disclosure requirements while seeking alignment with global reporting frameworks.
In California, the Air Resources Board is advancing implementation of SB 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, with proposed reporting requirements for Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, additional guidance for 2026 disclosures, and a clear focus on interoperability with frameworks such as IFRS S2 and the EU’s CSRD.
In Canada, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) is consulting on amendments to CSDS 2 relating to GHG emissions disclosures, reinforcing the country’s commitment to internationally aligned sustainability reporting while refining requirements to meet domestic stakeholder needs.
APAC
Across the Asia-Pacific region, governments continue to strengthen sustainability and climate policy frameworks through a combination of regulatory reforms, decarbonisation initiatives, circular economy measures, and carbon market development.
Japan is strengthening its Green Transformation (GX) framework by revising its GX Leadership Declaration to reward companies that actively procure low-carbon products and contribute to demand creation for transition technologies.
China has advanced its circular economy agenda, released a new energy sector decarbonisation action plan, and expanded policy focus on social governance through its 2026-2030 Human Rights Action Plan.
Singapore and Indonesia deepened cooperation on high-integrity carbon credits. Vietnam launched its domestic carbon exchange. Philippines advanced EPR guidance aimed at preventing plastic waste at source. India is pushing climate-resilient infrastructure and renewable energy deployment. New Zealand is consulting on an IFRS S2-aligned climate reporting roadmap.
