Glossary›AASB S2 disclosure requirements / AASB S2 mechanics›Cross-industry metrics
Glossary term
Cluster C · C23
Tier 1 · differentiator
Cross-industry metrics
Definition
Cross-industry metrics are the seven quantitative disclosures every entity must make under AASB S2 regardless of sector. They cover greenhouse gas emissions, assets exposed to transition risk, assets exposed to physical risk, assets aligned with climate opportunities, capital deployed to climate risks and opportunities, internal carbon price, and the link between climate and executive remuneration.
On this page
In practice
Cross-industry metrics are the part of AASB S2 with the fewest escape routes. They are quantitative, they are universal, and six of the seven are routinely underestimated because everyone’s attention goes to the emissions number.
The seven, in the standard’s order:
Para
Metric
Where the work actually is
29(a)
Absolute gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in tonnes CO2-e
The inventory. Location-based Scope 2 is the mandated basis
29(b)
Amount and percentage of assets or business activities vulnerable to transition risks
Requires a definition of “vulnerable” and a tie to the balance sheet
29(c)
Amount and percentage of assets or business activities vulnerable to physical risks
Same, by location
29(d)
Amount and percentage of assets or business activities aligned with climate opportunities
The most under-done of the seven
29(e)
Amount of capital expenditure, financing or investment deployed toward climate risks and opportunities
Comes from the capex register, not from the sustainability team
29(f)
Whether and how an internal carbon price is applied in decision-making, and the price per tonne
Has its own entry
29(g)
Whether and how climate considerations are factored into executive remuneration, and the percentage of remuneration recognised in the period that is linked to them
Comes from the remuneration file
Four of the seven, 29(b) through 29(e), are financial-statement quantities. They are amounts and percentages of assets, capital expenditure and financing. They are produced by finance, from the fixed asset register, the capex forecast and the debt file. A reporting process that treats metrics as an emissions exercise will deliver 29(a) and miss the rest.
Two of the seven, 29(f) and 29(g), are answerable with “no” where the practice does not exist. An entity with no internal carbon price discloses that it does not use one. An entity with no climate linkage in remuneration discloses that. Those are complete answers, and inventing a policy to fill the slot creates a disclosure that has to be assured.
What the assurer does with it
Metrics are numbers, so the assurer tests them as numbers. For 29(b) to 29(e) the first request is the reconciliation to the financial statements: the denominator must agree to total assets or total capital expenditure per the audited accounts, and the numerator must be traceable to a defined, documented population.
They accept a metric with a written definition of what was included and excluded, applied consistently, tied to the ledger. They reject a percentage with an unstated denominator, a “vulnerable assets” figure with no definition of vulnerability, a capital deployment figure that cannot be agreed to the capex register, and any of the seven simply omitted without an explanation. The reliable first question on 29(b) and 29(c) is how the entity defined vulnerability, because the answer is a judgement and the judgement drives the number.
Commonly confused with
Industry-based metrics, which AASB S2 has removed. All seven cross-industry metrics apply to every captured entity; there is no sector variation and no sector-specific set sitting alongside them.
Timing and relief
The Scope 3 component of 29(a) carries a first-year relief at AASB S2 Appendix C paragraph C4(b), allowing an entity to omit Scope 3 in its first annual reporting period applying the standard. Under paragraph C5 the entity may continue to rely on that relief when presenting the relieved year as comparative information in later periods, so year two discloses current-year Scope 3 without having to reconstruct the prior year. Appendix C provides no relief touching paragraphs 29(b) to 29(g).
Sources
1
2
3
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster C, AASB S2 disclosure requirements / AASB S2 mechanics
25 terms on what the climate disclosure standard actually requires, pillar by pillar, plus the reliefs and the effort standard.
Related terms
The sector-specific set the Australian text deletes
Metric 29(f), and a complete answer of “none”
The pillar these seven sit inside
Related questions
Do we have to report Scope 3 in year one?
−
No. AASB S2 gives first-time reporters relief from disclosing Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions in their first annual reporting period, and Scope 3 is required from the second year. Taking the relief in year one is normal, but the supplier data work needs to start in year one anyway.
What evidence do we need for each emissions number?
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Every reported number needs a source document you did not create for the report, the activity data drawn from it, the emission factor and its published edition, and the calculation joining them. Fleet fuel needs litres from fuel card statements, electricity needs kWh by site from retailer invoices with the matching state factor, and refrigerants need kilograms by gas type from service records.
What does the board have to sign?
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The directors’ declaration in the sustainability report. For financial years commencing between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2027, directors declare they have taken reasonable steps to ensure the report complies with the Corporations Act. From financial years commencing 1 January 2028, they declare their opinion that it does comply.
Where this sits commercially
Carbonhalo pulls 29(b) to 29(e) out of the finance system, where those four metrics actually live.
Other terms in this cluster
Cross-industry metrics