The Cop 29 talks are grinding to a close in Baku with a row over how much wealthy countries should pay poorer ones to shift away from fossil fuels.

It takes a while for what is agreed at Cop to filter through to the real world, as British companies are about to find out. Three years after an agreement at Cop 26 in Glasgow, big changes are coming in how companies report what they are doing on sustainability.

Most annual reports already contain an ESG — environmental, social and governance — section. Some are a bit of a joke; cynics say they measure a company’s ability to take pictures of smiling children frolicking under blue skies, not its commitment to improving the environment or society.