Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what their policy is towards promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles among UK companies.

The Companies Act 2006 requires directors to have regard to impact of a company’s operations on the community and environment when exercising their duties. It also requires certain companies to provide information regarding environmental matters and social, community and human rights issues within their annual reports.

The Government’s future plans to encourage companies to consider the impact of environmental, social and governance issues are set out in Mobilising Green Investment - 2023 Green Finance Strategy. This includes the Government’s plans to assess the suitability of the standards that were recently published by the International Sustainability Standards Board for use in the UK.