What a climate disclosure readiness check can tell you, and what it can't

Most climate disclosure projects start with the same question: how far along are we? NZC AI has published a short check that helps answer it. It is called How ready are you for climate disclosure? It takes twelve questions, gives a reading for each area of a disclosure, and stores nothing you enter.

This article explains what sits behind those questions, how the check relates to TCFD, IFRS S2 and the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS), and where NZC AI fits once you move from a self-check to real figures.

Why the four TCFD areas still matter

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) disbanded in October 2023. The IFRS Foundation took over monitoring of company climate disclosures from 2024. The framework did not disappear, though. Its four areas are governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets.

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued IFRS S2 in June 2023. IFRS S2 integrates and builds on TCFD. It is consistent with TCFD's four core recommendations and eleven recommended disclosures, and it asks for more, including industry-based metrics, information on planned use of carbon credits and, for some sectors, financed emissions.

So the four areas are a sound way to test readiness. They are the backbone of the current UK rules and of what comes next.

Where the UK stands in October 2026

Three sets of rules matter, and they are moving at different speeds.

• Companies and LLPs. Since financial years starting on or after 6 April 2022, certain large companies have reported climate-related financial disclosures in the strategic report. The test in section 414CA of the Companies Act 2006 is based on more than 500 employees, combined with a traded (including AIM), banking or insurance status, or turnover above £500 million. The eight required disclosures are in section 414CB(2A). Similar rules apply to large LLPs.
• Listed companies. Under the FCA's listing rules, in-scope companies currently disclose against TCFD on a comply-or-explain basis. The FCA's PS26/19 replaces this with comply or explain against UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2, for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027. First reports land in 2028. There are optional reliefs: one year for Scope 3 emissions and two years for UK SRS S1.
• UK SRS more widely. The government published UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2 on 25 February 2026 for voluntary use. Whether and how they are reflected in company law is part of the Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation, which closes on 30 November 2026. Nothing there is yet a requirement.

If you are not sure which of these applies to you, the check will not decide that. It looks at readiness, not scope.

What the check asks

There are twelve questions, three for each area. Each one has the same three answers: not started, in progress, or in place.

• Governance: whether a board, the partners or another governing body oversees climate-related risks and opportunities. Whether someone in day-to-day management is responsible. Whether you could describe those arrangements in plain language.
• Strategy: whether you have identified the principal risks and opportunities and the time periods you use. Whether you have looked at the effect on the business model and strategy. Whether you have tested that under more than one climate-related scenario.
• Risk management: whether there is a way to identify and assess climate-related risks, a way to manage them, and whether those steps sit inside your overall risk management.
• Metrics and targets: whether you use indicators with a method you can explain, measure greenhouse gas emissions for the latest period, and have targets with a way to see progress.

The questions are written in plain language and avoid quoting any one standard. That is deliberate. They describe the substance that TCFD, IFRS S2 and UK SRS S2 share.

What the result tells you

Each area gets one of three readings: early, developing or well prepared. Under each reading, you get two or three practical next steps, drawn from your own answers. For example, if no one in management owns climate risk, the step is to name a person or team, with a line of report to the governing body.

There is no overall percentage, no ranking and no comparison with other organisations. We left those out on purpose. A single score hides the area that needs work, and a benchmark built on self-assessment would claim more than it knows.

Three limits are worth stating plainly:

1. It is indicative, not advice. Every screen says so.
2. It does not tell you whether a UK duty applies, or whether a disclosure would meet IFRS S2 or UK SRS.
3. It keeps nothing. Answers are not saved or sent anywhere. If you refresh the page, they are gone.

From a readiness reading to evidence

A readiness check is about arrangements. A disclosure is about evidence. The gap between the two is where most of the work sits, and it is the part NZC AI is built for.

NZC AI is live. It is NZC Portal's in-house AI and MCP layer. TCFD is part of its skill library, and climate disclosure support, including Scope 3, is available across NZC Portal and NZC AI together.

Each figure comes with the source and method behind it, including the UK Government (DESNZ) factor row used. NZC AI works with your data but doesn't store it. Client data is held securely in AWS. Calculations run through deterministic engines by design, so the same inputs give the same answer. Emissions use the UK Government (DESNZ) conversion factors for the right year. Assumptions and gaps are stated, not filled in quietly. The regulatory content behind the workflow is checked monthly.

NZC AI supports the data and shows its sources. It does not verify a disclosure and it is not assurance. A qualified professional, such as NZC Consultants, reviews and signs off. For more on that sign-off step, read our earlier piece on AI-prepared UK SRS data, signed off by a consultant.

Next step

Take the readiness check. It is indicative, and your answers are not stored. If your reading shows gaps in metrics, targets or the evidence behind them, book a live demo to see how NZC AI and NZC Portal support climate disclosure.

Take the readiness check