| Regulator must challenge companies on inaccurate environmental and social reporting |
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29 November 2010 | Press release The Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) must scrutinise and challenge companies that fail to report accurately on their environmental and social impacts, environmental law organisation ClientEarth says. The FRRP, the regulator charged with enforcing UK law on company reporting, has announced its priorities for the coming year. While it acknowledged that companies will be tempted to focus on the good news in their reports, and that the FRRP is responsible for censuring such greenwashing and spin, ClientEarth asserts that the regulator continues to underplay its duties in this area, and is taking these issues insufficiently seriously. Ben Bundock, company law expert at ClientEarth, says: “Investors need full and frank information on the risks that they face in a given company. Environmental disasters such as the Gulf of Mexico spill make very clear the impact that scant regard for the environment can have on a company’s bottom line. “But the FRRP continues to take a tentative approach to its obligations to see that environmental and social impacts are reported fully and frankly by companies, stating only that it ‘tries to ensure that the information presented is fair.’ “The FRRP has a mandate to take a much stronger line with companies. It must rigorously enforce rules on reporting and take companies to court when they fail to correct their misleading representations on environmental and social impacts and risks; this is a vital task, which must be addressed for the sake of the environment and vulnerable communities, and for investors feeding funds into UK markets.” ClientEarth is submitting a series of complaints to the FRRP on UK-listed companies that have failed to report accurately on such impacts, calling for the FRRP to take action. It will continue to do so in the months ahead. ENDS Further information: Click here to find out more about ClientEarth’s work on company transparency Media contact: Mike Haines | Communications officer | ClientEarth t. +44 (0) 207 749 5978 | m. +44 (0) 7841 918 770 | e. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ClientEarth is a non-profit environmental law organisation based in London, Brussels and Warsaw. We are lawyers working at the interface of law, science and policy. Using the power of the law, we develop legal strategies and tools to address major environmental issues. As legal experts working in the public interest, we act to strengthen the work of our partners - both governments and NGOs. www.clientearth.org |
