BRSR Core, TNFD, and voluntary carbon market methodologies are converging on common data requirements for tree-related reporting: specific identification, defined methodology, time-series data, independent verification, and permanence. A single tree management system can serve all three from one underlying dataset.
BRSR Core
SEBI introduced the BRSR framework in 2021 for the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation. BRSR Core, introduced in July 2023, is a subset of approximately 49 KPIs whose disclosures must carry reasonable assurance from an independent assessor. Applicability is being extended progressively to cover the top 1,000 companies by FY 2026–27. Biodiversity-related disclosures currently sit within Leadership Indicators, which are voluntary. For organisations in scope, indicators within BRSR Core require methodology defensible to an external assessor.
TNFD
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures released its final recommendations in September 2023, organised around four pillars: governance, strategy, risk and impact management, and metrics and targets. TNFD introduces the LEAP approach — Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare — as a recommended method for nature-related risk and opportunity assessment. Trees and urban forests are part of the natural assets organisations are asked to identify, assess for dependencies and impacts, and report on. TNFD is currently voluntary, though the pattern of frameworks moving from voluntary to listing requirement has precedent in the TCFD's trajectory.
Tree-based carbon methodologies
Verra's VM0047 methodology for Afforestation, Reforestation, and Revegetation, published in September 2023 and updated in 2025, is the current standard for tree-based carbon credits under the Verified Carbon Standard. It uses dynamic baselines from remote sensing and matched reference regions. India's first VM0047-registered project — the Panna Afforestation Project in Madhya Pradesh — was registered in early 2026. City Forest Credits has developed protocols specifically for urban tree planting and tree preservation, with multi-decade commitment periods.
Common ground across the three frameworks
Although the mechanisms differ, the underlying data requirements converge: specific identification (what trees, where, in what condition, against what baseline); defined methodology; time-series data; independent verification; and permanence. A tree management system designed around these requirements is positioned to serve multiple reporting frameworks from a single underlying dataset, rather than producing separate datasets for each.
Direction of travel
BRSR Core's scope and assurance requirements are expanding. TNFD adoption is following the TCFD trajectory from voluntary to investor expectation. Carbon market rigour is increasing under updated methodologies. Together, these trends point toward a reporting environment in which tree-related data is increasingly measured, verified, and disclosed against external standards.
