The U.K. government is developing corporate sustainability and climate disclosure standards to mirror new ones from the International Sustainability Standards Board, the Department for Business and Trade said.
On June 26, the IFRS Foundation's ISSB unveiled two global sustainability disclosure standards, including one specific to climate, that let investors see how companies manage risks and opportunities, with information tied to corporate financial statements.
That information will support price discovery and capital formation, and help companies communicate sustainability information to investors, according to members of the ISSB's Investor Advisory Group.
The ISSB standards were endorsed July 26 by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, whose members regulate more than 95% of world securities markets. IOSCO urged its 130 member jurisdictions to consider incorporating the ISSB standards into their respective regulatory frameworks.
The U.K.'s Department for Business and Trade said in a statement Wednesday that its upcoming standards, expected by July 2024, will form the basis for any future sustainability reporting legislation or regulation. They will be based on the ones from the ISSB "to ensure that sustainability disclosures by U.K. companies are globally comparable and useful for investors, with the U.K. rules diverting from the global baseline only if absolutely necessary for U.K.-specific matters."
Whether U.K. companies and those listed there will be required to disclose the information called for in the standards will be decided later, the DBT statement said.
