The UK Government presents initiatives designed to green the UK economy and bolster attractiveness as an international financial centre.
By Paul A. Davies and Michael D. Green
On 9 November 2020, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced several initiatives designed to help the UK tackle climate change, while maintaining its position as an “open, attractive international financial centre” after the Brexit transition period ends.
Most importantly, the Chancellor announced that the UK will require corporate disclosures to align with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) by 2025 at the latest. In doing so, the UK will become the first country in the world to move past the “comply or explain” approach and make TCFD-aligned disclosure fully mandatory, in an effort to support climate-related transparency and the greening of the UK economy.
On 24 July 2020, the UK Treasury Committee (the Committee) relaunched its inquiry into decarbonisation of the UK economy and green finance.