Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that the UK listings requirements for fossil fuel companies are consistent with (a) the Supreme Court ruling in Finch v Surrey County Council and (b) the International Court of Justice’s Advisory Opinion, which both require Scope 3 emissions to be included in project Environmental Impact Assessments.

Last year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) delivered an ambitious modernisation of the UK’s listing rules, to bring the UK in line with international best practice. From 19 January 2026, the UK’s new Prospectus regime will cut the paperwork firms need to produce when they IPO and raise capital, while providing better, more relevant information to investors.

The government’s work to finalise the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) is a core part of the government’s ambition to make the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity. These standards are based on the interoperable standards published by the International Sustainability Standards Board in June 2023 and aim to support long-term investor decision making by providing high quality and comparable information and on sustainability-related risks and opportunities that businesses face.

The government consultation on UK SRS closed on 17 September. The government is currently processing feedback and will publish its response in due course along with the final set of standards for voluntary use. Separately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that they will be consulting soon on how UK SRS is applied to publicly listed companies.