The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on replacing its existing climate disclosure rules for listed companies with new requirements aligned to international sustainability reporting standards.
The proposals aim to introduce proportionate sustainability disclosure rules that reflect companies’ readiness while improving the quality and consistency of information available to investors. The FCA said the changes are intended to ensure markets have clear and robust data on sustainability-related risks and opportunities that could affect long-term company value and resilience.
Under the proposals, sustainability reporting for in-scope listed companies would be aligned with the forthcoming UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS), which are being developed by the government to endorse the standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The FCA said this would support international comparability, reduce duplicative reporting requirements and enhance transparency for overseas issuers listed in the UK.
The proposed rules would apply, with some variation, to commercial companies, issuers of non-equity and non-voting equity shares, companies in the transition category, secondary listings and depositary receipt issuers.
The consultation follows the winding down of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which underpinned the FCA’s current listing rules. While the TCFD framework helped raise disclosure standards, the regulator said the shift to ISSB standards requires an update to the UK’s approach to maintain international alignment.
Investors have consistently called for clear, consistent and financially material sustainability disclosures to support accurate pricing of securities and uphold confidence in UK markets, the FCA said. To balance transparency with proportionality, the regulator is proposing a “comply or explain” approach for certain newer or more complex reporting elements.
The FCA said the proposals also support the government’s Leeds Reforms and the UK’s ambition to remain a leading global financial centre by improving comparability across markets.
Responses to the consultation are invited until 20 March 2026. Subject to feedback and the finalisation of the UK SRS, the FCA expects to publish a policy statement in autumn 2026, with the new rules coming into force from 1 January 2027.
