On December 11, 2025, the International Sustainability Standards Board issued targeted amendments to the greenhouse gas emissions requirements in IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures.
The amendments respond to implementation challenges without replacing the broader IFRS S2 framework. They are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and early application is permitted.
The four targeted changes
The ISSB announcement identifies four areas.
1. Scope 3 Category 15 relief
An entity may limit its measurement and disclosure of Scope 3 Category 15 emissions to financed emissions as defined in IFRS S2. This addresses the potentially broad range of investment-related emissions within Category 15 while preserving decision-useful financed-emissions information.
Companies using the relief should still document which activities and asset classes are included, how financed emissions are measured, and where data limitations remain.
2. Alternative classification systems
The amendments permit alternatives to the Global Industry Classification Standard when disaggregating financed-emissions information. Financial institutions should select a classification system that produces understandable, consistent information and retain the mapping used from period to period.
3. Jurisdictional relief from the GHG Protocol
IFRS S2 generally requires measurement in accordance with the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard unless a jurisdictional authority or exchange requires a different method. The amendment clarifies that relief can be available when only part of the reporting entity is required to use another method.
This makes methodology lineage particularly important. Consolidated reporting systems should be able to identify which entities use which measurement basis and how those results are brought together.
4. Relief for global warming potential values
The ISSB introduced jurisdictional relief from using the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment’s global warming potential values when converting greenhouse gases into carbon dioxide equivalents.
That relief reduces conflict where local rules prescribe another set of values. It does not remove the need to record the values used, their source, and the affected calculations.
What reporting teams should do now
First, perform an applicability assessment. Identify whether your organization reports financed emissions, uses a classification system for disaggregation, contains entities subject to a different GHG measurement requirement, or uses jurisdiction-prescribed global warming potential values.
Second, update methodology documents and system fields. A reviewer should be able to see where a relief was used and reproduce the result.
Third, decide whether to apply the amendments early. Consider local adoption, comparability with the previous period, system readiness, and the expectations of investors and assurance providers.
Finally, keep the financial and sustainability reporting periods aligned. The ISSB’s implementation responses explain that IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 require sustainability-related financial disclosures to cover the same reporting period as the related financial statements, subject to specified value-chain information provisions.
The practical lesson is consistent across all four amendments: relief from a prescribed input or method increases the importance of transparent documentation. Reporting teams need to preserve the boundary, source, rationale, and consolidation treatment behind every GHG figure.
This article provides general information and is not accounting or legal advice.
Sources
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