The UK promised at the COP26 climate summit to become the world’s first Net-Zero-aligned Financial Centre.

But it’s the EU that has made major strides in sustainable finance regulation. While the UK contributed to much of this work, what can it now offer while going it alone?

Post-Brexit the UK Government must prove its commitment to sustainable finance, but it can go beyond just asking financial institutions to disclose and classify activities to examine and redesign the workings of the system itself.

This briefing argues that if one of the consequences of Brexit is that the financial sector decreases in size, there is an opportunity here: to create a smaller, more robust, more purposeful financial sector that promotes sustainable and inclusive economic development across the rest of the economy.

The UK Government, via the financial regulators, needs to provide a clear steer for financial institutions that they should support and reward socially useful activities.