Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of cross-jurisdictional consistency when the Government implements the UK’s sustainability disclosure requirements.

The Chancellor used his 2021 Mansion House speech to announce economy-wide Sustainability Disclosure Requirements for businesses and investment products to report on their impact on climate and the environment – and the risks and opportunities these pose to their business.

Cross-jurisdictional consistency and adopting international standards will form a key component of these requirements, which will streamline and build on existing sustainability reporting requirements such as our commitment to mandatory economy-wide disclosures aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, where the UK is already a world-leader. The regime will also incorporate considerations around adopting the global corporate reporting standard for sustainability being developed by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation.

The Government intends to legislate to deliver this and will publish a Roadmap setting out its approach to green finance regulation ahead of COP26.