New Zealand charts a course to IFRS S2
New Zealand’s External Reporting Board (XRB) is consulting on a draft climate reporting roadmap to replace the Aotearoa New Zealand Climate Standards (NZ CS) with a new standard, NZ IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures, adopting the ISSB’s IFRS S2 and climate-relevant portions of IFRS S1 as its basis. The roadmap explores three principles: international alignment thanks to IFRS S2; harmonisation with Australia’s obligations; and ensuring that the standard is minimally modified for local relevance.
Two harmonisation questions are central to the consultation. Firstly, to what extent should New Zealand adopt the ISSB’s industry-based guidance – on this, the XRB presents four options ranging from deletion to the status quo, noting that consulting on 500-plus pages of guidance covering 77 industries could take years. Secondly, should scenario analysis be prescribed – as New Zealand currently mandates three scenarios, Australia requires two, and IFRS S2 does not mandate scenarios.
The proposed transition timeline suggests NZ IFRS S2 would be available for early adoption for periods beginning on or after 1 October 2026, but mandatory only from 1 January 2033, with entities free to continue applying NZ CS in the interim.
Every jurisdiction that converges on IFRS S2 strengthens the case for the ISSB’s digital taxonomy as the global tagging baseline for climate disclosure, and harmonisation with Australia would also let investors easily compare structured climate data across the two markets without mapping between local frameworks.
The XRB stresses that no decisions have been made, and consultation closes on Wednesday 30 September 2026, with feedback via forums, webinars or written submission to sustainability@xrb.govt.nz.
Find out more and respond to the consultation here.
