The cities of Leeds and London will be home to a new UK centre for driving global green finance and investment thanks to a £10m government investment.
Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan (pictured) will announce later today that the new UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment will start in April 2021.
Physical hubs in Leeds and London will open a matter of months later led by a partnership with a number of UK institutions including the universities of Oxford and Leeds and Imperial College London.
The research hubs in the two cities will provide data and analytics to financial institutions and services such as banks, lenders, investors and insurers around the world to better support investment and business decisions by considering the impact on the environment and climate change.
For example, the new centre will equip banks with the latest environmental and scientific intelligence to help companies of all sizes, including start-ups, anticipate, adapt and gear up for the risks posed by climate change.
The hubs also aim to attract and develop new green finance talent from around the world to the UK’s major cities.
Trevelyan said: “Climate change is the biggest issue that we need to tackle to protect our planet for our children and grandchildren.
“While the government has invested billions of pounds so we can end the UK’s contribution to climate change, we will not reach our net zero target without mobilising private capital and unleashing the power of the free market.
“The UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment in London and Leeds will encourage financial services to turn the tide of their investments and focus on sectors and companies that have a smaller environmental footprint.
“Doing so will support industries and businesses to develop clean green innovations, creating thousands of jobs across the country – ensuring we build back greener.”
Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister John Glen said: “We’ve set the ambition for net zero – now we must ensure our financial sector has the tools and information to get behind the transition. We’re already improving the climate data available by mandating TCFD-aligned disclosures across the economy and implementing a green taxonomy.
“This new centre will advance the UK’s leadership in green finance and bring forward the day when firms can access environmental data and analytics for every place on Earth, past, present and future.”
Bank of England’s executive sponsor for work on climate change Sarah Breedan said: “Integrating climate and environmental data and analytics into decision making will allow financial institutions to identify, measure and manage the financial risks and opportunities from climate change, and so support the Bank’s objective to ensure the financial system is resilient to these risks and supportive of the transition to net zero.
“The Bank of England is delighted that the CGFI will support firms’ efforts in this important area, including for the forthcoming Climate Biennial Exploratory Scenario.”
Lord Mayor of the City of London William Russell said: “As we look to build a more resilient post-pandemic global economy, it’s clear that it must also be a more sustainable one.
“The demand across the sector for deep expertise in the green finance space – such as that which will be provided by the CGFI – demonstrates that the UK is well-placed to take advantage of this opportunity.
“I’m therefore delighted that the CGFI will introduce a new layer of innovation to the City of London in sustainable finance.”