The UK’s new voluntary sustainability assurance register expected later in 2026

We’ve learned that the UK’s new voluntary registration regime for sustainability assurance providers is well under development, and if approvals go to plan, the nature and operation of the register and details on how to apply to be listed in the register should be released later this year.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) was assigned the mandate to develop this voluntary sustainability assurance register (VSAR) in the conclusions of the consultation administered by the now Department of Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST, formerly DBT) that closed in September 2025. 

While the FRC continues to work on the details, the following basic foundations are unlikely to change:

• The VSAR is a voluntary initiative and will be publicly available.  It’s designed to enhance transparency in the sustainability assurance market. It’s intended to enable market participants to identify sustainability assurance providers operating in the UK and to better understand the services they offer. 
• Inclusion on the Register will be voluntary and won’t be a prerequisite for providing sustainability assurance in the UK. 
• To be included on the Register, the sustainability assurance provider must meet certain basic requirements.  
• The VSAR will be profession agnostic. 
• Inclusion in the register won’t involve any evaluation or assessment by FRC, so a provider’s listing in VSAR won’t provide any sort of endorsement on the assurance services they deliver. The details and supporting guidance are being finalised now and the FRC is receptive at this time, to further input from the market. 

If you have any further questions, or would like to give further feedback, please contact the FRC and DBIST:

Contact the FRC

 

Contact DBIST