The UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on ESG has released its recommendations on standardising and regulating ESG performance and assessment, and defining impact in the UK. The report, based on recent discussions with businesses, sector experts and industry representatives, includes recommendations on harmonising ESG assessment metrics, supporting the work of independent, international disclosure bodies, and encouraging business support for net zero targets through policy incentives. It also suggests that tensions between standardisation and materiality in ESG reporting be addressed by “creating a government-led central register of material ESG concerns facing each sector, promoting qualitative consideration of real-world material impact”. “Government has a key role to play in sending the right commercial signals and providing a robust framework, but the private sector will ultimately do much of the legwork in transforming our economy,” said Alexander Stafford MP, Chair of the APPG on ESG.
