Draft Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2021

Anum Qaisar Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2021 General Committees

[Ms Anum Qaisar (Airdrie and Shotts) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I will keep my contribution relatively short; I wish simply to make a few points for the record.

It is vital that tackling climate change is at the top of everyone’s agenda, as it is in Scotland, from our greener national policies in the Scottish Parliament to the fantastic work done by local community groups, charities and citizens. Since my election in May, I have been so impressed by my Airdrie and Shotts constituents’ work to tackle climate change. Of course, Scotland hosted COP26, and I am sure that we were all inspired by the work done by people from across the globe.

COP26 in Glasgow reinforced the idea that tackling climate change is a global issue and that everyone— every single person on this planet—can make a positive change. That leads me to an important point: at the heart of tackling climate change is the need for a rapid transformation across all sectors of our economy and of society. Large corporations must be transparent about their contributions to that transformation. The more that companies are required to publish climate-related financial disclosures, the more they will be encouraged to focus on becoming greener. That is a positive thing.