(Thursday 29th February) Responsible investment charity ShareAction is calling on the next government to better regulate the financial sector to ensure it can play its part in addressing the serious environmental and social crises facing Britain.
In a manifesto published today, Responsible Investment for a Better Future, ShareAction outlines six key policies needed to ensure financial institutions tackle issues such as climate crisis, inequality and degradation of nature. These include:
- Ensuring pension savers’ money is invested to build a better future, by amending fiduciary duty law governing pension funds to expand the definition of savers ‘best interests’ to include climate and social impacts
- Boosting corporate transparency and accountability by introducing legislation requiring companies to report on their social impact and the risks posed to their business due to social issues, alongside environmental impact
- Addressing racial inequality by introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers with 250 employees or more.
Fergus Moffat, Head of UK Policy at ShareAction, said: “The next government will be in power at a pivotal moment for people and planet, determining our country’s response to the threats of climate change, nature loss and inequality.
“Smarter regulation is key to ensuring that finance flows away from polluting fossil fuels and exploitative working conditions and towards resilient zero-carbon sectors and fairer treatment of workers.
“To secure a sustainable future for Britain, the next government must act decisively to set the highest possible standards for companies and the financial sector and hold them to account for their impact on all of us.”
Many of the policy interventions recommended by ShareAction build on existing policy initiatives and would require little to no government expenditure to implement.
ShareAction has been leading the movement for responsible investment that puts shareholder returns and the impact of investments on people and the planet on an equal footing, calling for robust action from the government to shift the financial sector in this direction.
Notes to editors
ShareAction’s manifesto, Responsible Investment for a Better Future, and full list of policy recommendations can be read here.
