National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF)

What is the NSRF?

Malaysia’s National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF) is the country’s roadmap for adopting global sustainability disclosure standards. Introduced by the Securities Commission Malaysia in September 2024, the framework aligns corporate reporting with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, specifically IFRS S1 and IFRS S2.

The Advisory Committee on Sustainability Reporting (ACSR), composed of the Securities Commission Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bursa Malaysia, the Companies Commission of Malaysia, and the Financial Reporting Foundation, currently oversees the NSRF.

The IFRS standards adopted under the NSRF establish a common reporting language.

NSRF also establishes the policy, assumptions, calculators, and education (PACE) framework. It is a national capacity-building programme that provides resources to help companies with their reporting.

Why is Malaysia adopting the NSRF?

Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) sets out the country’s path to net-zero emissions by 2050, with a renewable energy target to reach 70% of the energy mix by then. To meet that target, the country requires reliable, comparable data from the corporate sector. Previously, the voluntary disclosure frameworks, including TCFD adoption through Bursa Malaysia’s listing requirements, produced inconsistent results. The NSRF addresses this issue directly by aligning with IFRS standards. The IFRS S1 and S2 set standardised metrics and reporting formats, so companies disclose emissions, risks, and targets in the same way. This makes the data usable for tracking progress at the national level.

Malaysia positions its capital markets to speak the same reporting language as investors in the EU and some parts of Asia, especially Singapore. For companies that are seeking foreign investment or operating across borders, this alignment matters in the bigger picture and long-term success.

Who needs to comply with the NSRF?

The NSRF Malaysia is applied for in phases based on a company’s marketing listing and size. There are three groups:

Group 1: Main Market issuers that have a market cap of RM 2 billion or above.
Group 2: All remaining Main Market issuers on Bursa Malaysia.
Group 3: ACE Market issuers and large non-listed companies that have an annual revenue of RM 2 billion or more for two consecutive years.

What are the requirements of the NSRF?

The disclosure requirements follow the IFRS standards closely, with some transition reliefs built in to consider varying levels of reporting maturity across Malaysian companies.

IFRS S1 and S2 Standards Reporting

Every group begins with climate-related reporting, or IFRS S2, in their first year of compliance. This includes governance structures for climate oversight, how climate-related risks and opportunities affect and influence business strategy, scenario analysis, management processes, and quantitative metrics. The IFRS S2 also includes scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Scope 3 emissions are phased in, where Group 1 must report them from FY 2027, Group 2 from FY 2028, and Group 3 from FY 2030.

IFRS S1, or the general requirements for sustainability disclosures, follows in the second year of reporting for each group.

Report Submission Format and Platform

Sustainability reports must be filed in XBRL format through the Bursa Malaysia or Companies Commission (SSM) portal. Companies need to maintain audit-ready documentation for filing while also requiring a board-level sign-off.

What is the NSRF implementation timeline?

Companies need to adopt the ISSB standards as a whole. In this phased and tiered schedule, the NSRF Malaysia allows companies to primarily focus on climate-related disclosures or IFRS S2 first. Companies are then required to expand to IFRS S1 and scope 3 emissions. For groups 1 and 2, FY 2025-2026 reporting is already underway.

Group	IFRS S1 and S2 adoption begins	IFRS S1 and S2 adoption required	Scope 3 emissions required
1	FY 2025	FY 2026	FY 2027
2	FY 2026	FY 2027	FY 2028
3	FY 2027	FY 2028	FY 2030

On assurance, external review is currently voluntary. Reasonable assurance for scope 1 and 2 emissions is expected to become mandatory for companies: Group 1 by FY 2027, Group 2 by FY 2028, and Group 3 by FY 2029.

The NSRF also provides transition reliefs to support companies during early reporting periods, helping them build reporting capacity on their most material operations before the broader requirements. For the first two reporting periods, groups 1 and 2 may limit climate-related disclosures to their principal business segments and postpone scope 3 reporting. Group 3 is entitled to this relief for an additional year.

What are the benefits of adopting NSRF?

The compliance case of NSRF reporting is clear enough. NSRF Malaysia also has operational and strategic value for companies.

Investor Access

International institutional investors increasingly apply ESG screens before allocating capital. Consistent, auditable disclosures under globally recognised IFRS standards make Malaysian companies more legible and appealing to investors.

Integrated Financial and Sustainability Reporting

One of the NSRF’s explicit goals is to connect sustainability data to financial statements. IFRS S1 is built around the concept of sustainability-related financial disclosures, which is key information to understanding a company’s financial position and performance.

Board Accountability

The requirement for board-level sign-off on sustainability disclosures formally integrates climate and ESG governance into the board’s responsibilities. This means that companies that have already built governance structures for ESG oversight are already ahead in the market.

Early Adoption Advantage

With the learning curve of compliant NSRF reporting, companies that begin structuring their data early will spend less time and money under pressure and reporting errors.

How Presgo Supports NSRF Reporting

Companies need clean and traceable information across their systems, including their scopes 1 and 2 and eventually scope 3 emissions, mapped to IFRS S1 and S2. With ESG reporting software like Presgo, disclosures are audit-ready, filed in the right format, and documented well enough for external assurance review.

Presgo is an AI-first, modular ESG reporting platform designed to support organisations in IFRS-aligned sustainability reporting. Its built-in modules are designed to scale with a company’s reporting obligation as requirements expand across each NSRF Malaysia phase.

Presgo’s customisable solutions for NSRF reporting: