CP26/5: Aligning listed issuers’ sustainability disclosures with international standards

Read CP26/5 (PDF)[2]

Why we consulted

Sustainability risks, including climate risks, have financial impacts on the long-term value and resilience of listed companies.

We consulted on replacing our current rules for listed companies’ climate disclosures, with proportionate rules to:

• Align reporting with current international standards, with an implementation approach that reflects the readiness of listed companies.
• Make sure investors can access clear, consistent and robust information about sustainability risks and opportunities.
• Support overseas companies to be more transparent about their sustainability reporting, while removing duplication.

Our proposals support the Government’s Leeds Reforms[3] as well as the UK’s position as a global financial centre, by boosting comparability across markets and reducing duplicative rules. 

Who this is for 

The proposed rules to align sustainability reporting to the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS)[4] apply to companies in the following listing categories, with some variation depending on the category:

• Commercial companies (UKLR 6)
• Non-equity shares and non-voting equity shares (UKLR 16)
• Transition category (UKLR 22)
• Secondary listing (UKLR 14)
• Depositary receipts (UKLR 15)

Next steps

This consultation has now closed.

We will review the feedback and aim to publish a Policy Statement in autumn 2026, subject to the final UK SRS, with the rules coming into force from 1 January 2027.

Background

Investors have said they value clear, consistent, financially material information about how sustainability risks, and the opportunities they create, could impact company performance and market value. They want relevant and robust disclosures for accurate pricing of securities and to maintain trust and integrity in UK markets.

We already have rules for listed companies’ sustainability disclosures. Our current rules are aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which was created in 2015 but disbanded in 2023.

These rules have played a role in supporting market integrity and driving up standards of disclosures. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) was set up in 2021, to unify fragmented climate and wider sustainability reporting frameworks – including the TCFD.

Given the end of the TCFD and the transition to ISSB Standards, we must consider how our rules need to evolve.

To promote international alignment and comparability, the Government is currently developing UK SRS to endorse the ISSB Standards for use in the UK.  

Following the Government’s consultation on the draft UK SRS, we are consulting on replacing our current TCFD-aligned listing rules with requirements for in-scope listed companies to report against these standards. We want to strike the right balance between enhancing transparency and maintaining proportionality by proposing a 'comply or explain' approach for some of the more challenging or new aspects of reporting.

Our proposals are designed to:

• Increase transparency.
• Boost the quantity, quality and comparability of financially material information.
• Promote international alignment of sustainability disclosures.