Written by Harrison Folland

Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has announced that the UK is to be home to a new centre for global green finance and investment.

Physical hubs will be located in London and Leeds and will open shortly after the launch of the centre in April 2021. The government has made an initial £10 million investment.

The hubs will be led by partnerships with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Leeds and Imperial College London. The aim of the hubs is to provide “world-class data and analytics to financial institutions” in order to encourage consideration of the impact of their business and investment decisions on climate change and the environment.

This new intelligence will benefit companies of all sizes, allowing them to anticipate and prepare for climate change risks. It will also aid the creation of new technologies and products to combat said risks, such as tools that help property investors to measure severe storms and flooding. The hubs will also attract green finance talent to the UK’s major cities.

The UK Centre for Greening Finance will help to place Britain at the forefront of global green finance, as well as protecting the UK from climate and environmental risks, both socially and economically. This is a move that will ensure the UK’s financial sector has the tools it needs to contribute towards the government’s 2050 net zero target.