Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards on the development of international sustainability reporting frameworks.

The government was a strong supporter of the establishment and development of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) as a global standard setter for sustainability reporting at COP26 to drive international alignment. The ISSB published international standards on sustainability disclosures in 2023, known as S1 and S2.

On 25th June 2025, the government published its consultation on the draft UK-endorsed standards, which will be known as UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) and are based on the ISSB standards.

These standards aim to support long-term, sustainable decision-making by the business and investment community by providing high-quality and comparable information about the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that businesses face.

Greater use of these standards internationally will reduce the costs to businesses of reporting on sustainability matters in multiple jurisdictions and maximise the consistency of information for investors, allowing them to deploy their funding to maximum effect and support economic growth.