The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury () (Con):...The Government’s
success in green finance has been down also to the responsiveness
and technical capability of our independent regulators, who have
collaborated to drive forward our policy on sustainability
disclosures. The Government’s approach was established in the
2021 paper, Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable
Investing,where we set out the foundations of sustainability
disclosure requirements—or SDR—which build on our world-leading
implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures, or TCFD
This includes taking forward an approach across the economy to
implementing international standards, enabling firms to plan for
the transition and ensuring that this information flows to
investors and financial consumers. Credible, usable information
is a core component of green finance that will allow us to reach
our goals on sustainability. When this information is available,
market participants can use it to take sustainability into
account when making investment decisions. Our plan for SDR is
central to delivering this...
....Since then, the Government have considered this position
further. We do not consider there to be any limitations on the
implementation of SDR, as was set out in the green finance
strategy. We have therefore adapted our approach in the light of
that. To be absolutely clear, the FCA has sufficient powers for
authorised financial services firms and listed companies to take
forward SDR; indeed, it is already doing so, building on the work
of the TCFD...
....I want to end on the point about commitments versus action.
This is an area where there is not just government commitment but
government action. We were the first country to implement
TCFD
reporting across the economy. Not only that: we used our G7
presidency to get other countries to commit to doing so too. We
have pushed for this to become an international standard. We
expect that to come out this month. We have set out how we will
assess that for adoption in the UK. Transition plans are already
a requirement for FCA-regulated firms, and we have set out our
commitment to taking that further for large companies in the real
economy later this year. The FCA already has its consultation on
SDR and labelling out, so action is already under way. Again,
this demonstrates that the regulators have the powers they need
to take forward policy in this area...
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