Smarter climate reporting with AASB S2
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Greenbase’s Envago platform is built to help mining companies meet increasingly complex climate and ESG reporting obligations.
Mining companies are adjusting to Australia’s new mandatory climate reporting regime under the Australian Sustainability Reporting Standard Climate-Related Disclosures (AASB S2), a sustainability disclosure framework that requires businesses to report climate-related risks, emissions and governance alongside financial information and broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations.
Introduced under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the standard is being phased in and is already applying to many businesses. It requires disclosures across governance, strategy, risk management and emissions metrics, bringing climate reporting closer to financial reporting processes.
According to Greenbase, an Australian sustainability and environmental reporting specialist, the shift is prompting discussion across the sector as companies work to strengthen reporting controls and improve the quality of underlying data.
Greenbase said there is strong industry focus on AASB S2’s governance requirements, particularly around improving consistency, accountability and the reliability of climate-related information.
Most miners already report emissions under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme, Australia’s existing framework for tracking emissions and energy use. However, AASB S2 expands expectations by linking climate-related risks directly to financial statements and decision-making processes.
Greenbase sustainability and climate risk specialist Fraser Eynon said the challenge extends beyond technology alone.
“Out-of-the-box software solutions are an enticing answer to this; many are being sold as a way for sustainability practitioners to spend more time making impact and less time on metric disclosure,” he said.
“A noble goal, but is it realistic with software providers themselves subject to the same quality skill shortage that in-house sustainability teams face?”
Greenbase is positioning its Software as a Service (SaaS) platform Envago as part of this transition, supporting companies with climate data management, emissions calculations, and disclosure workflows under AASB S2.
Envago is designed to reduce reliance on spreadsheets by integrating operational data into emissions reporting and disclosure processes, including Scope 3 emissions, which remain one of the most complex areas of compliance.
Scope 3 emissions, which sit outside a company’s direct operational control, rely heavily on procurement data, supplier inputs and industry assumptions. This has historically made reporting fragmented and difficult to standardise across mining supply chains that involve contractors, logistics providers and downstream customers.
As Scope 3 expectations expand, companies are under increasing pressure to improve visibility across value chains and identify risks that were previously outside traditional reporting boundaries.
Greenbase said many organisations are now moving away from spreadsheet-based approaches and one-off reporting exercises toward systems that improve traceability and governance of emissions data.
Greenbase managing director and Envago founder Alistair Marks said AASB S2 is changing how organisations think about climate reporting at board and executive level.
“Climate reporting is no longer sitting to the side of financial performance,” he said.
“Boards are being asked to apply the same level of discipline to climate-related assumptions, risks and data that they would expect in financial reporting.”
Marks said this shift is creating stronger alignment between sustainability, finance and risk teams, with climate information increasingly being used to support planning, investment decisions and long-term business resilience.
Climate disclosures must align with financial statements under AASB S2, which means scenario analysis and emissions data can directly influence asset valuations, impairment assumptions and long-term strategy.
Greenbase said the transition is encouraging companies to strengthen internal systems and data governance ahead of full assurance requirements.
Industry feedback suggests many organisations are using the transition period to build capability and refine reporting structures before stricter audit expectations take effect.
For the mining sector, AASB S2 is increasingly being viewed as a catalyst for stronger governance, higher-quality data and more integrated climate and financial decision-making.
This feature appeared in the June 2026 issue of Australian Mining magazine.