There is a growing assumption across organizations today that ongoing ESG efforts, emissions tracking, and sustainability reporting are sufficient preparation for IFRS S1 and S2.
In most cases, this is not true.
For the first time, sustainability and climate disclosures are being reframed side by side with financial relevance also. S1 and S2 (and standards thereon) will demonstrate sustainability-related risks and opportunities that affect cash flows, access to finance, and long-term enterprise value. This will be far beyond than a traditional communications exercise. It will become a test of whether an organization’s governance, strategy, risk management, and data systems can withstand investor (and more importantly, regulatory) scrutiny. In a lot of cases, they will require something far more fundamental: a clear articulation of how sustainability and climate-related risks and opportunities affect financial performance, strategy, and long-term value.
This is where most organizations face difficulty.
The gap is rarely about effort. Many companies have already invested time and resources into policies, targets, and reporting structures. The issue is that these elements are often not integrated. Governance may exist but not influence decisions. Climate risks may be identified but not quantified. Data may be available but not structured for scope 3 reporting and so on.
To help organizations navigate this gap, Resources Future has developed a structured diagnostic:
Resources Future ISSB Atlas (Lite) — A Free IFRS S1/S2 Readiness Tool
When we assess readiness and strategic reframing with clients, we use our deep proprietary tool to provide recommendations to large corporates on 86 parameters. Today, we are releasing a Lite version of our proprietary tool that can provide early guidance. We want to keep this practical and decision-oriented designed to assess whether your organization is genuinely prepared for investor-grade sustainability and climate disclosures.
The Lite version is beyond a checklist. Resources Future has built this from a financial and strategic lens, reflecting how investors, lenders, and regulators will increasingly interpret IFRS S1 and S2.
What the Tool Does
In approximately 10–15 minutes, the Lite version tool enables you to:
- Assess your readiness across core IFRS pillars: Governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics are evaluated in a structured and comparable way.
- Identify critical gaps in your current approach: The tool highlights areas where your disclosures may not be sufficiently developed or defensible.
- Surface early warning signals: Issues such as lack of Scope 3 visibility, weak data systems, or limited financial linkage are flagged clearly.
- Generate a structured readiness score: A quantified output helps position your organization along a realistic readiness spectrum.
What You Will Likely Discover
For many organizations, the results are revealing.
Companies that expect to be well prepared often find that they are only partially ready. Some have made progress in emissions measurement but lack a clear transition plan. Others have governance structures in place but limited integration into business strategy. In many cases, sustainability remains adjacent to financial decision-making rather than embedded within it.
This is not unexpected. IFRS S1 and S2 represent a shift toward decision-useful, financially relevant disclosure, and most systems are still evolving towards that standard. When you use the tool, you will most likely see a result something like this (of course, every organization is better is some aspects than others) but the idea is to assess how you could receive a decision ready support, where you require more work and how can you improve. The lite tool dashboard comes with the following kind of analysis (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Pillar readiness scoring of organizations on ISSB S1 and S2 pillars
What This Tool Does Not Do
It is equally important to be clear about the limits of a lite diagnostic of this tool. This tool does not:
- Validate the robustness of your underlying data systems
- Assess the audit-readiness of your disclosures
- Fully quantify financial impacts of climate risks and opportunities
- Replace detailed implementation or advisory work
It is designed as a starting point to move from general confidence to specific insight. When we engage with clients at deeper level, we use our comprehensive proprietary tool which is built to provide high level diagnostic as well as detailed insights. Clients who then who look forward to engage with us can also utilize our deep engagements and work with us on 1-2-1 basis, where we work with them to prepare them for investor-grade disclosure confidence. Reach out to us at info@resourcesfuture.com if you would like to schedule an introductory call with our team.
For Organizations Seeking a Deeper Assessment
For those who require a more comprehensive evaluation, we have developed the RF ISSB Atlas (Pro) – to be released very soon for wider commercial purposes. The Pro version will extend this diagnostic significantly by:
- Expanding the assessment across data architecture and control environments
- Evaluating financial linkages and scenario readiness
- Providing a structured implementation roadmap
- Supporting the development of investor-grade disclosures
Why This Matters Now
The direction of ISSB is clear. Sustainability and climate disclosures are moving toward greater rigor and financial relevance. Whether driven by regulation (mostly the case), investor expectations, or market access considerations, organizations will increasingly be required to demonstrate not only what they are doing, but how those actions affect performance and value. The question will no longer be when disclosure will happen. It will move towards whether they will be credible or not.
Access the Tool
We are happy to provide our lite version to every company in the world. We hope you will utilize this tool and play around with this to arrive at good, logical pathways for future implementation.
Use this, share this, and let us know your feedback. We are all ears! The RF ISSB Atlas (Lite) is now available as a free resource.
