Regulators · status · direction
UK sustainability regulation: who regulates what, and what state it is in
UK sustainability regulations are owned by at least seven different bodies, from the FCA to the Environment Agency, and on 30 September 2026 they sit in five different states.
This page maps them by regulator and by status — in force, final, consulted on, under review, or abandoned.
For the list of duties and thresholds, see ESG reporting requirements UK.
The map
Who regulates what: the UK regulator map
Each body, what it owns, and the instrument that gives it the role.
| Body | What it owns or enforces | Instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Department for Business and Trade | UK SRS; the Companies Act reporting duties | UK SRS S1 and S2 |
| Financial Conduct Authority | Listing rules on UK SRS; SDR; anti-greenwashing; ESG ratings from 2028 | PS26/19 |
| Prudential Regulation Authority | Banks’ and insurers’ climate risk management | SS5/25 |
| Financial Reporting Council | Reviews of annual reports, SECR included; the Governance Code; ISSA (UK) 5000 | Code 2024 |
| Environment Agency | ESOS compliance and penalties | SI 2014/1643 Part 8 |
| Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | SECR and ESOS policy; transition plans consultation | SECR guidance |
| The Pensions Regulator | Pension trustees’ climate governance and reporting | SI 2021/839 |
| Equality and Human Rights Commission | Gender pay gap reporting | SI 2017/172 |
| Competition and Markets Authority | Misleading green claims to consumers | DMCCA 2024 |
No single body regulates sustainability in the UK, and none is responsible for making the pieces fit.
SECR has no penalty of its own: it sits in the directors’ report under Schedule 7 Part 7A, so the FRC’s reviews and the Companies Act’s report offences do the enforcing.
ESOS is the opposite, with a fixed penalty table and a named regulator, the Environment Agency, which publishes the scheme guidance.
The modern slavery duty is enforced only by the Secretary of State seeking an injunction, under section 54(11).
The energy regimes are compared on ESOS vs SECR.
Final
UK SRS and the FCA: the newest layer
The Department for Business and Trade published UK SRS S1 and S2 on 25 February 2026, as the UK’s endorsed versions of the ISSB standards, voluntary for any entity.
The FCA’s final rules, published on 30 September 2026, require listed companies in UKLR 6, 14, 15, 16 and 22 to report against them on a comply-or-explain basis for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
They replace the TCFD-aligned listing rule disclosures, and they do not make UK SRS S2 mandatory, as the consultation had proposed.
For every entity outside those listing categories, UK SRS remains voluntary, and no government document proposes a private-company threshold.
The standards are explained on what is UK SRS, and their dates on the UK SRS timeline.
Financial sector
The financial sector: a second regulatory track
Financial firms answer to a set of rules that runs alongside the company ones.
The FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, made in PS23/16, govern how investment products are labelled, named and described; the anti-greenwashing rule applies to every authorised firm.
In September 2026 the FCA replaced product-level TCFD reporting by asset managers and owners, recorded in Handbook Notice 144.
The PRA’s expectations for banks and insurers are in SS5/25, a supervisory statement rather than a rule.
Pension trustees have their own climate regime under SI 2021/839, overseen by the Pensions Regulator.
The ESG Ratings Order 2025 will bring ratings providers inside the FCA’s perimeter from 29 June 2028.
| Rule | State |
|---|---|
| Anti-greenwashing rule, ESG 4.3.1R | Applies to all authorised firms since 31 May 2024 |
| SDR labels and naming rules (PS23/16) | In force; labels voluntary |
| Product-level TCFD metrics | Replaced on 25 September 2026 |
| PRA SS5/25 | Replaced SS3/19 on 3 December 2025 |
| Pension scheme climate reporting | In force since 1 October 2021 |
| ESG ratings providers | Regulated from 29 June 2028 |
In play
What is consulted on, under review, or abandoned
The modernising corporate reporting consultation proposes removing the directors’ report, which would move SECR to a new place in the annual report without changing who reports or what.
It says the government will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act, and that DESNZ intends to consult on SECR and ESOS later in 2026, per the consultation document.
The climate-related financial disclosure regulations of 2022, SI 2022/31, are under post-implementation review, and must have a first review report before 6 April 2027.
Transition plans remain an open question: the consultation closed on 17 September 2025 with no outcome, and the TPT Disclosure Framework survives only as archived guidance hosted by the IFRS Foundation.
Two policies are settled the other way: the UK green taxonomy is not proceeding, and the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism is law, as a tax from 1 January 2027 under Finance Act 2026 Part 5.
On nature, the government said in its 2023 Green Finance Strategy that it would explore how the TNFD framework should be incorporated into UK policy; no instrument has followed, and the strategy page holds both editions.
The sequence year by year is on the UK sustainability regulation timeline, and nature on nature-related disclosures.
- 15 Jul 2025Green taxonomy abandoned
- 17 Sep 2025Transition plans consultation closes
No outcome published.
- 7 Sep 2026Modernising corporate reporting consultation opens
- 30 Sep 2026FCA PS26/19
- Later in 2026DESNZ consultation on SECR and ESOS
Intended; not yet published.
- 30 Nov 2026Corporate reporting consultation closes
- 1 Jan 2027FCA rules in force; UK CBAM starts
- Before 6 Apr 2027First review report on SI 2022/31
- 29 Jun 2028ESG ratings regulated
Frequently asked
UK sustainability regulation: frequently asked
What are the main sustainability regulations in the UK?
For companies: SECR energy and carbon reporting, ESOS energy assessments, the Companies Act climate-related and non-financial statements, modern slavery statements, gender pay gap reporting, and — for listed companies from 2027 — the FCA's comply-or-explain rules on UK SRS.
For financial firms: the FCA's Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and anti-greenwashing rule, the PRA's climate expectations, and the pension-scheme climate regulations.
What was the UK ESG regulation of 2022?
The Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/31.
They amended the Companies Act so that traded, banking, insurance and AIM companies, and companies with turnover above £500 million, each with more than 500 employees, make eight climate-related financial disclosures in the strategic report for financial years beginning on or after 6 April 2022.
The government is reviewing them, with a first review report due before 6 April 2027.
Who regulates sustainability reporting in the UK?
No single regulator does.
The FCA writes and supervises the listing rules; the FRC reviews company reports, SECR included, and sets the Corporate Governance Code and the assurance standard; the Environment Agency administers ESOS; the PRA supervises banks' and insurers' climate risk; the Pensions Regulator oversees pension-scheme climate reporting; the CMA enforces consumer law against misleading green claims; and government departments own the underlying policy.
Is there a UK green taxonomy?
No. The government decided on 15 July 2025 not to proceed with a UK green taxonomy.
Do UK companies have to publish a climate transition plan?
No UK entity is under a legal duty to have one.
The government's consultation on transition plan requirements closed on 17 September 2025 and no outcome has been published.
Under the FCA's final rules, a listed company in scope states whether it has published a transition plan and where, or why not.
What UK sustainability regulation is under consultation?
The modernising corporate reporting consultation, open until 30 November 2026, proposes removing the directors' report and moving where SECR is reported, and says the government will consider how UK SRS should be reflected in the Companies Act.
It also says DESNZ intends to consult on SECR and ESOS later in 2026.
None of it changes the law yet.
Are ESG ratings regulated in the UK?
Not until 29 June 2028, when providing an ESG rating becomes a regulated activity under the ESG Ratings Order 2025, SI 2025/1349.
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and S2
Published 25 February 2026; voluntary.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards
Final rules, 30 September 2026; comply or explain from 1 January 2027.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2008/410 Schedule 7, Part 7A (SECR)
No penalty of its own; directors’ report enforcement.
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and DefraEnvironmental reporting guidelines, including SECR requirements
- Environment AgencyEnergy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) guidance
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2014/1643 Part 8 (ESOS penalties)
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS23/16: Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels
- Financial Conduct AuthorityFCA Handbook ESG 4.3.1R — anti-greenwashing rule
All authorised firms, from 31 May 2024.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityHandbook Notice 144 — FCA 2026/59
Product-level TCFD reporting replaced, 25 September 2026.
- Prudential Regulation AuthoritySupervisory Statement SS5/25
Replaced SS3/19 on 3 December 2025.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2021/839 — pension scheme climate governance and reporting
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2017/172 — gender pay gap information
Enforced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
- legislation.gov.ukModern Slavery Act 2015, section 54(11)
Enforcement by injunction.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2025/272 — DMCCA 2024 commencement
CMA direct enforcement of consumer law from 6 April 2025.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2025/1349 — ESG Ratings Order 2025
A regulated activity from 29 June 2028.
- legislation.gov.ukFinance Act 2026, Part 5 (UK CBAM)
A tax on imports from 1 January 2027.
- HM GovernmentUK Green Taxonomy: consultation response, 15 July 2025
Not proceeding.
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroClimate-related transition plan requirements (consultation)
Closed 17 September 2025; no outcome published.
- Transition Plan Taskforce (archived by the IFRS Foundation)TPT Disclosure Framework, October 2023
- Department for Business, Innovation, Science and TradeModernising corporate reporting — consultation page
7 September to 30 November 2026.
- Department for Business, Innovation, Science and TradeModernising corporate reporting — consultation document, ¶¶147–155
SECR’s location, the CFD review, a later DESNZ consultation on SECR and ESOS, UK SRS in the Companies Act.
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2022/31 — Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-related Financial Disclosure) Regulations 2022
Financial years from 6 April 2022; first review report before 6 April 2027.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CB
- HM GovernmentGreen finance strategy (2019 and 2023 editions)
- Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroMobilising green investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy — annexes
The commitment to explore how the TNFD framework should be incorporated into UK policy.
- Financial Reporting CouncilUK Corporate Governance Code 2024
- Financial Reporting CouncilISSA (UK) 5000