Disclosure GuidesThe questions that hold a report up, settled

London Reporting Academy·Disclosure guides

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Expert-written answers to the questions that slow reporting teams down. Each one opens with the conclusion, shows the requirement it rests on, explains the conditions and the judgement involved, and links to the disclosure cards the decision affects.

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Answers from the published guides · 275 disclosure cards · 1,211 indexed reports

Disclosure guides

Data and evidence

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Framework All frameworks430 GRI66 ESRS52 EU VS51 ISSB56 TNFD53 UAE52 UK S152 UK S248
Problem All problems430 Materiality and scope62 Reporting boundaries50 Data and evidence104 Omissions and claims49 Metrics and methodologies47 Assurance and controls42 Framework interoperability46 New standards and transition30

EU VS·Explainer·Data and evidence

EU Voluntary Sustainability Report Template: Structure, Disclosure Index and Evidence Pack

A strong EU Voluntary Sustainability Report should be built as three connected outputs: an approved report or counterparty-facing document, a controlled disclosure index and response pack, and a restricted evidence room. The report should identify the undertaking, reporting period, perimeter, Option A or Option B basis, paragraph 22 omissions and applicable B/C disclosures; explain methodologies, boundaries, estimates, changes and limitations; and use a disclosure index that points to precise locations.

Helps you decideEU Voluntary Sustainability Report Template: Structure, Disclosure Index and Evidence Pack

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 9 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Free EU Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Template: Basic and Comprehensive Modules

A useful EU Voluntary Sustainability Reporting template should not be a single blank report. It should be a small controlled package: a Word report skeleton for the Basic and Comprehensive Modules, an Excel applicability matrix, an evidence register, a data dictionary and a request-response log.

Helps you decideFree EU Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Template: Basic and Comprehensive Modules

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 5 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

C4 Climate Risks: Physical and Transition Risk Without an Overbuilt Scenario Model

A useful first C4 disclosure is specific, traceable and proportionate - not necessarily model-heavy. Identify the hazard or transition event, the exposed site, activity or value-chain node, the reason it is sensitive, the relevant time horizon, the potential operational or financial channel, and the action or control.

Helps you decidehow far to take scenario work in a first climate risk disclosure, and what a risk statement must name to stay traceable

Reviewed 10 Aug 2026 14 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Comparison·Data and evidence

Basic vs Comprehensive Module

Choose the Basic Module when the organisation needs a reliable core report, is building its first repeatable data cycle or mainly answers proportionate customer and management questions. Choose Basic plus Comprehensive when banks, investors or corporate clients need additional information on strategy, policies, Scope 3, GHG targets, transition, climate risks, workforce depth, human rights, sensitive activities or governance diversity - and the organisation can complete and evidence the full Comprehensive Module.

Helps you decideWhich module best fits company size, information users, data maturity, climate needs and upgrade plans.

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 12 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Report or Dataset First? How SMEs Should Implement Voluntary Sustainability Reporting

For most SMEs, the controlled dataset should come first and the designed report should be treated as one output. The 2026 Voluntary Standard is intended to serve counterparties, banks and investors as well as internal management, and it allows the report to be public or counterparty-focused.

Helps you decideDecide why a controlled dataset normally comes before graphic report design.

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 15 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Evidence Register for the EU Voluntary Standard: What to Keep Behind Every Datapoint

Every reported datapoint should have a controlled evidence record showing what was reported, which paragraph or subpoint it relates to, where the source came from, who owns it, which period and boundary it covers, how it was calculated or judged, who reviewed it, whether the evidence is confidential and whether the datapoint is approved for release. The 2026 Voluntary Standard does not prescribe a named “evidence register”, but it requires information to be faithful and verifiable.

Helps you decideDefine the minimum evidence record behind each metric and narrative statement.

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 15 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Missing Data and Estimates Under the EU Voluntary Standard: What Is Allowed?

The 2026 EU Voluntary Standard allows or anticipates estimates in some areas - most clearly for Scope 1 and location-based Scope 2 greenhouse-gas emissions - but it does not provide a general “data unavailable” exemption for every essential and applicable datapoint. A missing value must first be tested against the selected module, an explicit voluntary category, an “if applicable” condition and the limited omission permission in paragraph 22.

Helps you decideUnderstand why estimation is sometimes acceptable but unavailability is not a general omission reason.

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 15 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

EU Voluntary Standard Implementation Checklist: 60 Questions for the First Reporting Cycle

A first-cycle EU Voluntary Standard checklist should test six gates: eligibility and protected status, module option and reporting basis, datapoint applicability, data quality and evidence, report and counterparty outputs, and review and release control. The checklist should not be used as a substitute for the standard or as a questionnaire to copy into a report.

Helps you decideEU Voluntary Standard Implementation Checklist: 60 Questions for the First Reporting Cycle

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 5 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

First EU Voluntary Reporting Cycle: A 90-Day and 12-Month Roadmap

A first EU Voluntary Standard cycle should be planned in two tracks. The 90-day track creates a usable, controlled first output: scope, module option, dataset, evidence register, gap log, review and release decision.

Helps you decideFirst EU Voluntary Reporting Cycle: A 90-Day and 12-Month Roadmap

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 6 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Do SMEs Need Sustainability Reporting Software, or Is Excel Enough?

Excel can be enough for a first EU Voluntary Standard reporting cycle if the undertaking has a small team, a limited number of requesters, a disciplined evidence repository and clear version control. The standard does not prescribe specialist software.

Helps you decideWhether to operate with spreadsheets and a document repository, or adopt a specialised platform.

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 6 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Protected Undertaking Self-Declaration: What Suppliers and Requesters Should Document

Use a short, controlled declaration that proves the two statutory criteria - employee threshold and value-chain relationship - and also identifies the employee band needed for Annex II. State the legal entity, period, average employee number, calculation/entity basis, recipient relationship, authorised signatory, issue date, expiry and correction route.

Helps you decidewhat the protected-undertaking declaration must state, which records stand behind each field, and when it has to be reissued or corrected

Reviewed 10 Aug 2026 13 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Explainer·Data and evidence

EU Voluntary Standard Basic Module: Complete Guide to B1-B11 Disclosures

The Basic Module is the minimum reporting route under the Commission-adopted 2026 Voluntary Standard. An undertaking applying Option A completes B1-B11 in their entirety, subject to the “if applicable” principle, datapoints explicitly identified as voluntary, targeted reliefs for undertakings with 10 employees or fewer and any properly documented paragraph 22 omissions.

Helps you decideEU Voluntary Standard Basic Module: Complete Guide to B1-B11 Disclosures

Reviewed 11 Aug 2026 11 min Read the guide →

EU VS·Decision guide·Data and evidence

Using the EU Voluntary Standard in Tenders, Supplier Onboarding and Customer Due Diligence

The safest way to use the EU Voluntary Standard in a tender or onboarding process is to treat it as a controlled response pack, not as a document that is uploaded unchanged to every portal. Start with an approved Option A or Option B core, then add request-specific evidence, certifications and any voluntary above-cap information through a release-controlled annex.

Helps you decidewhat belongs in a tender or onboarding pack beyond the report itself, which certifications you may cite, and which version goes to whom

Reviewed 10 Aug 2026 8 min Read the guide →

How an LRA guide is built

Every answer follows the same discipline.

You should be able to stop reading after the first paragraph and still have what you came for. Everything below it exists so you can defend the answer to a reviewer.

  1. 01
    Answer

    The question is stated as a reporting team would ask it, and settled in the opening lines.

  2. 02
    Basis

    The official source and edition are named, and kept clearly apart from our reading of them.

  3. 03
    Judgement

    The points the standard leaves open are marked, with what a defensible position looks like.

  4. 04
    Action

    The answer links to the disclosures and evidence it affects, so a decision turns into fields to fill.

  • Practitioner-written, then technically reviewed
  • A named reviewer, with a date
  • Requirements kept separate from practice and interpretation
  • Stated update triggers for re-reading each answer
RK Technical leadership Dr Ross KurinkoLinkedIn Strategic ESG Advisor · IFRS S1 & S2 / GRI / ESRS expert GRI Certified Global Trainer · PhD, University of Cambridge · ESG-AI expert 15+ years on FTSE 100 & Fortune Global 500 disclosures Canary Wharf, London LRA educational guidance · Not issued or endorsed by the standard setters

Coverage

Which frameworks have answers yet.

The guides tier is written framework by framework rather than thinly across all of them, so this says where the writing has actually reached. Disclosure cards, which cover the requirements themselves, run ahead of it.

GRI Standards

Impact reporting, used voluntarily worldwide

587 disclosures · 140 cards European Sustainability Reporting Standards

Double materiality, mandatory under CSRD

165 disclosures · 75 cards EU Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard 2026

Voluntary sustainability reporting for smaller undertakings

20 requirements · no cards yet IFRS S1 and S2 (ISSB)

Investor-focused, financial materiality

87 disclosures · 39 cards Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures

Nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities

0 recommendations · no cards yet UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2024

Federal climate law, in force now

16 disclosures · 7 cards UK Sustainability Reporting Standard S1

UK general sustainability-related financial disclosures

0 requirements · no cards yet UK Sustainability Reporting Standard S2

UK climate-related financial disclosures

0 requirements · no cards yet California SB 253 and SB 261

State-law emissions and climate-risk reporting

15 disclosures · 11 cards SASB Standards

Industry metrics, in preparation

1199 metrics · no cards yet

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