On 28 October, the UK government published its response to its public consultation to introduce mandatory climate-related financial disclosures by public companies and large (500+ employees; turnover of £500m+) private companies and LLPs. The response confirms that the government is pressing ahead with its plans to bring these requirements into law from 6 April 2022.

Once the laws come into effect, businesses will have to report on a wide range of sustainability and climate-related criteria, including how the business is assessing and managing climate-related risks and opportunities, how this is integrated into its overall risk management process, and analysis of the resilience of its business model and strategy taking into account different climate-related scenarios. The disclosure requirements are intended to be closely aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), to which the G7 nations committed to mandating at the G7 meeting earlier this year.

The draft legislation has now been laid before Parliament for approval and accompanying non-mandatory guidance is expected to be published later this year.