Investor bodies have urged the newly-elected UK prime minister to develop a whole-of-economy net-zero transition plan, which should be based on the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
In a letter to Keir Starmer this week, the groups asked that his new government “seize the opportunities” presented by the net-zero transition through renewed policy focus.
The letter was developed by the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) and the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), and is co-signed by the chief executive officers of all three organisations.
They said a UK net-zero transition plan should be underpinned by “credible and comprehensive sectoral decarbonisation pathways that show how key sectors of the economy will transition, and by when.”
“Investable NDCs would provide investors with much required clarity on where investment is most needed and provide a benchmark for entity-level transition plans,” Leo Donnachie, senior policy manager at the IIGCC told IPE.
The establishment of vehicles such as Great British Energy, a publicly-owned clean energy company that Labour has pledged, and a National Wealth Fund would provide investors with the confidence and certainty needed to invest in the UK for the long term, Donnachie added.
Identifying priorities
In their letter, the investor groups said that by identifying priority areas for decarbonisation, such as achieving clean power by 2030 or tackling the highest-emitting sectors and deploying targeted policies and public finance tools to support these, the government could crowd-in private finance “at pace and scale”.
“A comprehensive industrial strategy will help to support higher rates of economic growth in the UK, making it a more attractive investment destination in an increasingly competitive global race for capital, while developing a skilled workforce ready to take on the jobs of the future,” the joint letter stated.
The Labour government has pledged to “make Britain a clean energy superpower” and yesterday announced the end of a ban on new onshore wind projects in the country.
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Krystle is IPE’s London-based senior reporter and splits her time reporting between IPE and its sister publication Impact Investor.
Before joining IPE Krystle worked as a financial journalist covering investment trends, and ESG. She was highly commended at the Headline Money Awards for Rising Star of the Year (B2B financial journalism).
She previously worked as a regional breaking news reporter for a daily newspaper.View full Profile
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