UK government launches Green Finance Taskforce
A new group of investors and figures from the City of London has been established by the UK government to encourage “green finance” in the country. The Green Finance Taskforce will spend six months working on proposals, in conjunction with banks and other financial organisations, to increase investment in the low-carbon economy. The group, which will be chaired by former lord mayor of London Sir Roger Gifford, will consider ways of making the UK’s infrastructure investments more sustainable, and may produce guidelines for those wishing to invest in greener stocks.

Green Finance Strategy

The UK launched the Green Finance Strategy on 2 July 2019. The Strategy supports the UK’s economic policy for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, the delivery of our modern Industrial Strategy and our domestic and international commitments on climate change, the environment and sustainable development.

It is informed by the private sector and wider stakeholders, and is, in part, a response to the recommendations of the Green Finance Taskforce, chaired by Sir Roger Gifford. The Taskforce is a leading example of the cross-sector collaboration that the strategy seeks to advance. To this end the government has already taken action to implement its recommendations ahead of the publication of this strategy, such as announcing the establishment of the Green Finance Institute ( GFI ).

The Strategy is an ambitious package, bringing together work from across the government, regulators and the private sector. It has 3 core elements:

greening finance: ensuring current and future financial risks and opportunities from climate and environmental factors are integrated into mainstream financial decision making, and that markets for green financial products are robust in nature



financing green: accelerating finance to support the delivery of the UK’s carbon targets and clean growth, resilience and environmental ambitions, as well as international objectives



capturing the opportunity: ensuring UK financial services capture the domestic and international commercial opportunities arising from the ‘greening of finance’, such as climate related data and analytics, and from ‘financing green’, such as new green financial products and services.

It also outlines how we will be coordinating closely with our international partners to achieve our objectives, and areas where government will seek to lead by example.

An important announcement within the strategy is the launch of the Green Finance Institute.

Green Finance Institute

As the UK’s principal forum for collaboration between the public and private sector with respect to green finance, the Green Finance Institute ( GFI ) will play an integral role in supporting delivery of our Green Finance Strategy.

On the 2 July, the government and the City of London Corporation launched the GFI to foster greater cooperation between the public and private sectors, create new opportunities for investors, and strengthen the UK’s reputation as a global hub for green finance.

Green Finance Taskforce

In September 2017, the government asked leading finance expert and former Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir Roger Gifford, to chair an independent taskforce to accelerate growth of green finance and the UK’s low carbon economy.

The Green Finance Taskforce report sets out a series of recommendations on how the government and the private sector can work together to make green finance an integral part of our financial services sector. The government has subsequently published the Green Finance Strategy which takes forward the key themes of the taskforce.