Bank of England to cut staff air travel amid green push July 5, 2021 The Bank of England is considering permanently cutting staff air travel as part of efforts to ramp up its climate change targets and “practise what we preach”. Sarah Breeden, the Bank’s executive director for financial stability and risk and lead on climate change issues, said the Bank was having an “active debate” over how to [...]
London should be the go-to city for green finance as Britain takes on COP26 July 5, 2021 It’s just over four months to go until the UN Climate Change Conference – better known as COP26 – takes place in Glasgow, and few will deny we are at a pivotal moment for our planet, and for the future of finance. With this in mind, we recently held the second of our hybrid Green [...]
City leaders are constantly proposing ‘green initiatives’ but is the Square Mile really doing everything it can for climate change? July 2, 2021 During London Climate Action Week, a series of sustainability initiatives are capturing airtime. The Canada’s ‘Climate Action Strategy’ aims to make the Square Mile net-zero in its carbon emissions by 2040. A group of law firms has adopted a ‘greener litigation pledge’. And financial services, which form the backbone of the City, are keen to [...]
Sunak to set out vision for UK financial services as new green bonds unveiled July 1, 2021 Rishi Sunak will today lay out plans to make Britain the most “advanced and exciting” country for financial services in the world in his first ever Mansion House address. The speech comes after the Treasury revealed the first details of the government’s plan for the UK’s first ever green sovereign bond – or gilt – [...]
Danske Bank launches UK’s first carbon-neutral mortgage June 29, 2021 Danske Bank has launched the UK’s first carbon-neutral mortgage, to tackle emissions generated throughout the mortgage life cycle. The mortgages, certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust, will ensure physical paperwork is limited and recycled in Danske’s offices. The Carbon Trust calculated that each mortgage produces around 96kg of carbon, equivalent to driving 241 [...]
London must become a world leader on climate change action June 28, 2021 It’s London Climate Action week and a chance to celebrate the work being done to tackle climate change in our capital city. It’s an opportunity to highlight and bring to the forefront the challenges we are facing and need to address to make a real difference. Climate change is a major global issue affecting everyone [...]
COP26: ESG needs a top-down approach to be truly effective June 26, 2021 Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) issues are fast becoming a key factor for investment decision making. The ethics and sustainability efforts of a business impact who invests and for how much. Despite ESG becoming a priority, many financial services professionals are still unclear about how organisations produce this data. In fact, a recent survey [...]
London has the lowest carbon per capita emissions of any region in the UK June 25, 2021 London has the lowest carbon per capita emissions of any region in the UK, according to the latest government figures released today. The government’s breakdown of territorial CO2 emissions in all 379 UK local authorities showed that London’s high poopulation density, the urban nature of its transport system and its lower level of industrial facilities all contributed to its low [...]
European Parliament approves landmark law to make emissions targets legally binding June 24, 2021 The European Parliament has approved a landmark law today which makes emissions targets within the European Union legally binding. Earlier today, the UK’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) said the government’s lack of policies jeopardise the country’s chances of meeting its net zero emissions by 2050 target. “Today is a historic day,” Swedish Social Democrat [...]
Prince Charles partners with insurance firms to tackle climate change June 24, 2021 Prince Charles has teamed up with the Lloyd’s of London insurance market to launch a task force aimed at transitioning the industry to a net zero economy. The task force will be chaired by Lloyd’s, with support from Charles’ Sustainable Markets Initiative. It will include the chief executives of insurance firms such as AXA, Allianz, [...]
