March 2023
Minutes of the APPG on ESG’s Annual General Meeting, Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 11.00am.
Building cross-party consensus among parliamentarians and key stakeholders to deliver insight and direction on Environmental, Social, and Governance.
Welcome to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).
The APPG on ESG plays an important role in helping the Government meet landmark policy objectives such as net zero, combatting modern slavery and improving corporate governance.
Chaired by Alexander Stafford, Conservative MP for Rother Valley, the APPG delivers cross-party policy recommendations and guidance to help businesses account for their environmental and social risks and impacts, ensuring investors are better informed for the benefit of society, the environment, and the UK economy.
Updates
AGM 2023
- Minutes
Overcoming ESG-related challenges for small and medium-sized businesses
- Summary documents
February 2023
Kevin Hollinrake MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business and Trade, attended the APPG’s roundtable discussion on overcoming ESG-related challenges for small and medium-sized businesses. With SMEs accounting for 99.9% of businesses in the UK, many of them facing ESG disclosure requirements, it is incumbent on policymakers to tackle the barriers they face, as SMEs increasingly look to larger corporates for guidance and resources.
COP15, biodiversity and ESG
- Summary documents
January 2023
Trudy Harrison MP (Minister for Natural Environment and Land Use) attended a roundtable discussion on COP15 and the UK’s biodiversity policies from an ESG perspective. At the meeting, the Minister expressed her hope that the UK continues to set the conditions to stimulate more private investment in nature recovery by developing a market framework and standards to ensure high-integrity nature markets.
The outcomes of COP27 for ESG
- Summary documents
November 2022
The APPG held a roundtable discussion with climate experts and members of the advisory board the day after COP27 concluded in Sharm El-Sheikh. While the conference fell well short of the high watermark set by COP26 in Glasgow, the deal made between national governments calling for a “transformation” of the financial system was a positive indicator that successive COPs are important drivers of green finance and embedding ESG principles.
Trust in the market for ESG products and services, attended by the Financial Conduct Authority
- Minutes
October 2022
The APPG held a roundtable discussion with the Financial Conduct Authority on October 25th to discuss the need for regulatory intervention in the ESG market to increase transparency and trust. The FCA released a consultation on Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels on the same day, which was discussed at the meeting.
The UK’s Green Taxonomy and how it compares
- Minutes
September 2022
Expert representatives from the Green Finance Institute came to speak to the APPG on ESG to discuss the imminent release of the UK’s green taxonomy, and how the UK can learn from the European Union and other countries about what makes a green taxonomy successful.
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Chair
Alexander Stafford MP
Alexander Stafford is the Conservative MP for Rother Valley. He was elected to Parliament in December 2019, founding the APPG on Environmental, Social, and Governance in June 2021. As Chairman of the APPG on ESG, Alexander hopes to help Britain become a world leader by engaging cross-party politicians with British business leaders, NGOs, regulators, and other key stakeholders, collectively helping to sustain ESG’s progress.