Corporate reporting – BEIS consultation on climate-related disclosures by publicly quoted companies, large private companies and LLPs

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has launched a consultation on mandatory climate-related disclosures by publicly quoted companies, large private companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

Context of the proposed mandatory disclosure requirements

The UK Government aims under its 2019 Green Finance Strategy for all listed companies and large asset owners to make disclosures in line with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) recommendations by 2022. Entities are currently encouraged to disclose against the TCFD recommendations on a voluntary basis. The number of disclosures remains low – which BEIS attributes to their voluntary nature – so the current consultation is assessing whether to make these disclosures mandatory.

BEIS considers that by making the disclosures mandatory, it will significantly increase the number of entities taking action in respect to climate-related risks and opportunities. BEIS’s other aim is to ensure that investors have access to climate-related information which can help them understand and manage their own climate-related financial risks.

Companies with a premium listing are already subject to relatively new TCFD-related disclosure obligations under the Listing Rules. With effect for financial periods starting on or after 1 January 2021, the FCA introduced a new Listing Rule which requires companies with a premium listing to include a compliance statement in their annual financial report, stating whether they have made disclosures consistent with the TCFD recommendations and recommended disclosures, or provide an explanation as to why they have not done so – for further details, see our client briefing here. BEIS intends the proposed new rules to be complementary to the FCA’s rules.

Companies and LLPs in scope

The consultation paper proposes that the disclosure requirements would apply to:

• UK companies that are currently required to produce a non-financial information statement (that is, companies with more than 500 employees which are listed, or are banking or insurance companies);
• AIM companies with more than 500 employees; and
• other companies and LLPs which have more than 500 employees and a turnover of more than £500 million.

These companies will be required to report climate-related financial information in the non-financial information statement which forms part of their strategic report. LLPs will be required to publish the disclosures either in their strategic report, or in the carbon report in their annual report.

The disclosure requirements

For accounting periods starting on or after 6 April 2022, companies that are in scope will be required to include climate-related financial disclosures in annual reports under the four key pillars of the TCFD recommendations:

1. Governance: disclose descriptions of the governance arrangements in place to identify and manage risks and opportunities from climate change, including who has operational responsibility for this, their experience, and, if applicable, whether the entity’s audit committee considers climate change.
2. Strategy: disclose the entity’s business models and strategies, as well as a description as to how these may change in response to the effects of climate change.
3. Risk Management: disclose descriptions of the principal risks and opportunities that the entity may face as a result of climate change, as well as how the entity manages those areas of risk. This may include a description of the risk management policies implemented to address climate change-related risks, and a description of the outcome of any such policies.
4. Metrics and Targets: disclose descriptions of the key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to the entity’s exposure to climate change risks and opportunities. Disclosure of targets for these KPIs would also be required.

The proposed new disclosure obligations are arguably less stringent than the rules for premium listed companies under the Listing Rules, as the proposed rules do not require or prescribe the disclosure of climate-related financial information in line with the 11 more detailed TCFD recommended disclosures. BEIS states that this is because it considers these to be at a level of granularity inconsistent with current legislative requirements of the strategic report. BEIS says that the focus on the TCFD pillars is particularly aimed at driving disclosure under the ‘Strategy’ heading, given that the percentage of companies currently disclosing under this pillar is significantly lower than under any of the other pillars.

Next steps

The consultation closes on 5 May 2021. The legislation to introduce the new disclosure requirements will be introduced when parliamentary times allows – BEIS aims to have drafted regulations implementing these new requirements by the end of 2021, with a view to them coming into force on 6 April 2022. The regulations would then be applicable for accounting periods starting on or after that date.

Contacts