We welcome the Government’s increased recognition of the need to put the UK financial services sector on a more sustainable footing. If the City of London were a country, it would be ranked 9th biggest emitter of CO2 in the world – ahead of Germany.

In July 2019, the Government published its Green Finance Strategy. An announcement from the Treasury on progress towards this strategy can be expected imminently. Whilst the 2019 Green Finance Strategy is a strong start, certain opportunities to green finance so far remain unaddressed. Crucially, the Government must disincentivise investments in fossil fuels if it is serious about greening our economy.

In this briefing we recommend seven changes across four key policy areas where the Government should focus its attention.