UK Government publishes a factsheet around the UK becoming the world’s first Net Zero-aligned Financial Centre

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03 Nov, 2021

The UK Government has announced that the UK will be the world’s first Net Zero-aligned Financial Centre.

This means UK financial institutions having a robust firm-level transition plan setting out how they will decarbonise as the UK meets its ambitious and legally binding net zero targets, and there will be strong Government oversight of the financial sector as a whole to ensure financial flows actually shift towards supporting net zero. 

Furthermore, the UK will move towards making publication of transition plans mandatory. Initially, this will require asset managers, regulated asset owners and listed companies to publish transition plans that consider the government’s net zero commitment or provide an explanation if they have not done so. As standards for transition plans emerge, the Government and regulators will take steps to incorporate these into the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and strengthen requirements to encourage consistency in published plans and increased adoption by 2023.

In October 2021, the Government published Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing. This set out a comprehensive plan to get market participants the information they need to take climate into account in every financial decision. To make sure financial flows actually shift to meet the Paris commitment, the Government will go further, and next year set out a transition pathway for the sector as a whole with new policies and milestones looking ahead to 2050.

The factsheet can be accessed on the HM Treasury website here. Our related Need to know publication is here

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