ISSB Drops Nature Disclosure Draft as EU's Revised ESRS Nears Entry Into Force

ISSB Launches Nature Disclosure Consultation on the Eve of COP17

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) published its exposure draft on nature-related disclosures on October 22, 2026 — timed to coincide with the UN Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17. The draft proposes a new IFRS Practice Statement rather than a standalone standard or amendments to IFRS S1 or S2, a deliberate choice the ISSB says is intended to limit disruption for companies and regulators still rolling out the first generation of sustainability standards. According to ESG Today and the IFRS Foundation, the consultation period will run for 120 days, closing on February 19, 2027.

The proposed Practice Statement is designed to guide companies on how to apply IFRS S1's existing materiality requirements to nature-related risks and opportunities — covering strategy resilience, the proportion of assets exposed to nature-related risks, and alignment with nature-related opportunities — without altering the text of IFRS S1 or the climate-focused IFRS S2. The ISSB has drawn heavily on the framework developed by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which wound down its own technical work by mid-2026 to support the ISSB's standard-setting effort. The IFRS Foundation noted that ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber has stressed that material nature-related disclosures are already required under IFRS S1; the Practice Statement clarifies the how, not the whether.

EU's Revised ESRS: Final Publication and a November Entry Into Force

On the European side, the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) — the rulebook underpinning the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) — were formally published in the EU's Official Journal on September 22, 2026, following the European Commission's adoption of the revised delegated act in July. According to ESG Today, the regulation enters into force on November 10, 2026, with mandatory application for financial years beginning January 1, 2027. The revision, part of the Omnibus I simplification package, slashed roughly 60 percent of mandatory datapoints compared to the original 2023 standards, while narrowing the CSRD's scope to companies with at least 1,000 employees and €450 million in net turnover.

Companies that were already subject to CSRD in FY2026 retain flexibility: they may continue under the original standards, apply selected reliefs, or early-adopt the revised ESRS — provided they disclose which framework they used, per Linklaters' October 2026 ESG newsletter. Meanwhile, EFRAG launched a public consultation on a draft XBRL taxonomy for the revised ESRS on September 17, 2026, open until November 11, 2026, with the final taxonomy expected to be handed to ESMA and the Commission by year-end.

SEC Rule Rescission Awaits Final Vote

In the United States, the picture remains one of regulatory retreat. The SEC formally proposed rescinding its 2024 climate disclosure rule in late May 2026; the public comment period closed August 3, 2026. According to Modus Alliance and CouncilFire, a final rescission vote is not expected before late 2026 at the earliest and could slip into 2027. The rule was stayed weeks after adoption and has never been enforced. State-level mandates — principally California's SB 253, which requires large companies to disclose Scope 1 and 2 emissions — now represent the most substantive US compliance floor for many multinationals.

Why It Matters

The convergence of the ISSB's nature draft and the EU's finalized ESRS revision in the same week underscores that the global sustainability disclosure landscape is not stalling — it is splitting. The EU is tightening its mandatory framework even as it simplifies it, while the ISSB is expanding its thematic reach beyond climate through a lighter-touch instrument. For multinational companies, the practical challenge is managing obligations under two distinct, if increasingly interoperable, regimes.