Beyond ‘blood, sweat and excel’: Corporate Australia confronts climate risk
Large Australian companies will be forced to reveal the risks of climate change to their operations under a mandatory reporting regime effective from 1 July. But are they ready?
In less than five months, companies with more than $500 million in revenue or 500 staff will need to lay bare how susceptible their businesses are to climate change.
Smaller companies are off the hook for now - but they will need to follow suit from July 2026 if they have revenue above $200 million, or 2027 for those with revenue of $50 million or more.
These climate-related disclosures, which the federal government will soon legislate as part of amendments of the Corporations Act (2001), are designed to bring Australian reporting standards into line with the EU and are based on the first two International Financial Reporting Standards for Sustainability that were released in June 2023.
The exact requirements will be made public after a consultation process for an exposure draft wraps up on Friday. Treasury has already flagged that companies and asset owners will need to disclose information about their climate-related strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets including Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Scope 3 emissions - those arising from a company’s supply chain and customers - will need to be disclosed from the second year of reporting onwards.
