The climate-related financial disclosure regulations 2022: A step in the right direction for ESG in the private sector

Abstract

This legislative note examines the recent regulatory changes that were introduced on 6 April 2022, and which consequently affect the Companies Act 2006 and the Limited Liability Partnerships (Account and Audit) (Application of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2008. The amendments mean that companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) that fall within the regulations’ scope must now disclose their climate change risks and opportunities. It is submitted in this work that these amendments are a step in the right direction for ‘environment social governance’ (ESG) in the private sector. Indeed, the need to report on climate change risk is likely to drive the appetite of affected businesses to develop their ESG programmes within their overall risk management frameworks. Together with this intrinsic impact, the changes are also likely to increase ESG and CSR within the markets more broadly.