Sustainability Reporting in 2026: CSRD, EU Omnibus and ISSB
What your business must do now
Insights
Contents
- What sustainability reporting leaders are telling us
- The 2026 regulatory landscape
- 4 key takeaways for strengthening sustainability reporting
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Now that the EU’s Omnibus package has landed and ISSB standards are rolling out around the world, the era of ambiguity in sustainability reporting is over, and the era of action has begun.
But what does this actually look like?
To answer that, we asked sustainability reporting leaders from global businesses. Top of their list: executive sponsorship, better data, governance for action, and assurance readiness. Read on for what they told us and what the latest regulatory developments mean for your organisation.
What sustainability reporting leaders are telling us
Through a series of executive workshops, our team uncovered key insights, challenges and experiences of sustainability leaders from a range of global businesses preparing for the Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS). Their insights are directly applicable to any business preparing to report against the CSRD and/or ISSB standards globally.
Our research points to four factors that consistently separate organisations making real progress on sustainability reporting from those that struggle:
- Executive ownership: treated as a leadership responsibility, not a delegated task
- Data quality: plays a key role in disclosure confidence, assurance readiness and driving business value
- Governance design: clarity of accountability drives pace and better decision-making
- Assurance readiness: built in from the start, not bolted on at the end
Each is explored in depth in the guide, along with the practical steps organisations can take to get them right.
Download the ASRS guide to read the full insights.
The regulatory landscape: a brief update
With those practical priorities in mind, here is where the key global sustainability reporting regulations stand and what they mean for your business:
EU Omnibus, CSDDD & CSRD
After months of uncertainty, the EU has delivered clear parameters: mandatory sustainability reporting is now targeted at the largest organisations, with smaller entities removed from immediate scope.
A narrower focus on larger companies and fewer entities subject to mandatory due diligence and reporting
On 24 February 2026, the Council of the European Union gave its final approval for Omnibus I, marking the last formal step before legal text is published in the EU’s Official Journal. For both the CSRD and CSDDD, this finally gives preparers and markets clarity on who is in scope, what is expected and by when.
For the CSRD, only EU entities with over 1,000 employees and a net turnover of more than €450M will remain in scope for reporting on FY2027. EU-listed firms will continue reporting, with FY25 being the second year of compliance. There are likely to be different standards for non-EU entities, though these won’t be adopted before 1 October 2027. As things stand, all non-EU companies that meet the above thresholds within their EU entities, and that have an EU subsidiary or branch with net turnover above €200 million, will be obligated to report at the Consolidated Group level. EU Member States have until March 2027 to transpose into national legislation.
The CSDDD now has a compliance threshold of 5,000 employees and €1.5B turnover, with the first mandatory compliance date now being July 2029. Climate Transition Plans have been removed from scope; guidelines are due to be published by mid-2027, with national transposition happening by mid-2028.
Rest of world: ISSB leads the charge
Outside the EU, ISSB-aligned standards are rapidly becoming the global baseline, with adoption now mandatory or in active consultation across approximately 40 countries.
In 2026 alone, the Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS) and Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) on Sustainability Disclosures have been adopted, building on already significant uptake across the Asia Pacific region, including Australia, Singapore, Japan and Malaysia.
In the UK, Sustainability Reporting Standards were launched in February 2026 based on IFRS S1 and S2. A Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consultation is due to conclude in March, with FTSE-listed firms likely to be required to publish aligned disclosures from 2027. The UK Government is also separately consulting on mandatory climate transition plans and oversight of sustainability assurance providers.
In the Middle East, several countries are considering adoption of ISSB standards, including Qatar and Jordan and Turkey has already adopted them for listed and large entities.
The key notable exception to this trend is the United States, which faces a lack of federal pressure to drive sustainability reporting. However, state-level rule-making continues, led by California, which has passed mandatory GHG emissions disclosure legislation.
For a clear overview of global reporting obligations, explore our free interactive map tool.
4 key takeaways for strengthening sustainability reporting
The message from both the regulatory landscape and the experience of sustainability reporting leaders is consistent: for large companies globally, disclosure requirements are crystallising, not expanding to all, but intensifying for those in scope.
Focusing on governance, accountability, data robustness and open dialogue with auditors and senior leadership are all non-negotiable activities in a world where sustainability reporting must stand alongside financial reporting.
So what should companies do now? Here are four, practical tips for strengthening your sustainability reporting.
- Build a structured, finance‑grade reporting programme. Map requirements, assign clear owners, and establish data flows and controls early so sustainability disclosures become as repeatable and auditable as financial reporting.
- Equip leaders with the knowledge to govern sustainability data confidently. Provide targeted training so boards and executives understand requirements, assurance expectations, and their personal accountability.
- Embed sustainability reporting into day‑to‑day operations. Clarify roles, integrate data collection into existing processes, and communicate consistently so reporting becomes business‑as‑usual rather than an annual scramble.
- Install monitoring systems that produce investor‑grade data. Use dashboards, controls and early data validation to ensure metrics are robust, traceable and ready for audit scrutiny.
At Anthesis, we believe that leading companies recognise that reporting isn’t just about compliance – opportunities also lie in identifying where risk converges, understanding the financial exposure, hard-wiring these insights into business strategy, and leveraging reporting to tell a compelling story with credibility.
Anthesis’ Strategy, Transformation and Reporting team brings together our expertise across CSRD and ISSB alignment, reporting narrative, design and creation, materiality (re)assessment and strategic transformation. If you or your team are currently navigating any of the above, we would love to discuss our insights in more detail.
We are the world’s leading purpose driven, digitally enabled, science-based activator. And always welcome inquiries and partnerships to drive positive change together.
