Sustainability and Legislation Series: Chapter 9 - What the Future Holds

By Jesper Risa, Data Analyst, Humans Not Robots

Sustainability reporting legislation is always in flux. It shifts in response to environmental conditions, political pressures, and election cycles. This is the final chapter of our Sustainability & Legislation series, and it feels right that it should look ahead.

Since we began writing this series of educational blogs, reporting has been pushed in two directions. On one side: pushback and deregulation, most visibly in the EU Omnibus and the wave of anti-ESG measures in the US. On the other: continued momentum towards a unified framework, with ISSB standards being adopted in countries including Mexico, Chile, Qatar, and soon the UK. The picture is uncertain, but on balance, it is a positive one.

An Unclear Path?

The politicisation of sustainability measures has been hard to miss, particularly in Western countries. In the EU, we have seen CSRD narrowed through the first Omnibus, a "stop the clock" directive delaying mandatory reporting, and the scope of CSDDD cut dramatically, so that only companies with more than 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion in turnover will be required to report, starting in 2029.

In the US, the picture is starker. Large amounts of sustainability legislation have been scrapped, and there have been attempts to prevent companies from even implementing their own sustainability policies. Chapter 8 of this series covers this in more detail.

Despite this, most of the world is moving towards rules-based reporting. The IFRS Foundation reports that jurisdictions covering nearly 60% of world GDP are adopting or otherwise using the ISSB Standards (2025).

Legislation Harmonisation

Legislative alignment has become an increasingly strong current. The benefits are real: investors can compare companies across borders more easily; we get a clearer global picture of emissions and sustainable practice; and international companies avoid the cost and complexity of reporting under several entirely different regimes. It also reduces the risk of greenwashing.

ISSB is increasingly the go-to standard for countries building their own reporting frameworks. Some adopt S1 and S2 directly; others adapt them to their own markets. The UK's new Sustainability Reporting Standards are a good example of the latter.

A further step came recently, with the GHG Protocol and ISO announcing plans to align their standards into a single emissions calculation framework. Each of these moves makes the overall system more coherent and easier to navigate.

Innovation and Reporting

The cost and effort of compliance have been a prominent concern, and they've driven much of the reasoning behind the EU Omnibus reforms. But deregulation is not the only way to reduce the burden, and it is arguably not the most effective.

The more durable answer is likely to come from innovation.

Digitised, machine-readable reporting is the most obvious near-term lever. EFRAG has already published an ESRS XBRL taxonomy, pushing disclosures towards structured digital formats rather than free text buried in PDFs. Once tagged, reports can be filed, searched, compared, and audited automatically, cutting significant manual effort. As regimes converge on shared standards, companies will also have one taxonomy to tag against rather than several.

Automation of data collection is the natural next step. Much of the reporting burden sits not in writing the report, but in gathering data across the business and its value chain. Software can pull figures directly from source systems (energy, travel, procurement, ERP) rather than relying on manual entry and spreadsheets.

AI and machine learning go further still, categorising, estimating, and validating data, filling gaps in Scope 3 emissions, flagging anomalies, and mapping figures to the right disclosures. This could shift reporting from an annual, backward-looking exercise towards continuous near-real-time monitoring. Lower cost and effort, without the quality trade-off that comes with deregulation.

It also allows companies to go beyond compliance. Better data supports real decarbonisation decisions, not just disclosure obligations. The companies that invest early stand to gain a competitive and reputational edge over those still treating reporting as a box to be ticked.

This is where Humans Not Robots fits in. HNR sits at the intersection this legislation is pushing towards sustainability, reporting requirements, and technology optimisation. We think of it as Quality of Impact, or "intelligence per watt": using AI and data to cut both emissions and cost, while producing the evidence regulation demands. Automation does the heavy lifting; people retain the judgement and accountability that credible reporting depends on.

Where This Is Heading

Step back from the short-term noise and the direction is clear. Reporting is becoming more harmonised, more digital, and, across most of the world, mandatory. The sensible response is not to wait for the picture to settle. It is to prepare now, building the data and systems that reporting will require in the years ahead.

If you want expert guidance on what fast-changing sustainability legislation means for your organisation, wherever you operate, get in touch with Humans Not Robots. We help businesses across different geographies understand their obligations, make sense of their data, and stay ahead of the rules, without losing sight of the bigger picture.

Thank you for following along on this ever-changing journey with us. You'll find all of the chapters of the series, including basic terminology and a brief history, in our Insights page. I hope you leave a little more informed about where things stand, and where they are going.