75 leading thinkers call for an overhaul of green finance rules

Ahead of the Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report, 75 leaders from civil society and academia have written to the government calling for action to ensure that rising interest rates do not choke off critical green investment and to shift financial flows out of fossil fuels. 

To tackle the cost of living, establish the UK’s energy security, and maintain a liveable planet, we need to quickly reduce our dependence on oil and gas by stopping all new fossil fuel expansion and rapidly upscaling investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. This will require a rapid reallocation of public and private finance away from polluting sectors and towards green ones.

The Chancellor has already pledged to make London the world’s first ‘Net Zero Financial Centre’. But currently, activities in the City of London are undermining his ambitions, with British banks funding fossil fuels to the tune of £275 billion since 2016. The government’s upcoming Green Finance Strategy is a critical opportunity to set out an ambitious plan to actively shift financial flows in line with a 1.5C transition pathway, as well as nature and adaptation goals, and ensure costs and benefits are fairly distributed.

In anticipation of the new Strategy, this joint letter, signed by 75 leading thinkers representing a wide range of policy, research and campaign organisations, sets out 5 principles for a new vision of green finance that will help tackle the cost of living crisis, improve the UK’s energy security and accelerate the Net Zero transition:

1. A clear plan for aligning financial flows with a 1.5C pathway and nature protection goals, with independent mapping of progress and investment gaps across public and private finance.

2. Actively shifting financial flows, by reflecting the high risk of fossil fuel lending in regulation, and measures to keep the cost of green lending low, even in the current high-inflation, higher-interest-rate environment.

3. A key role for public investment in driving a fair transition, as well as strategic public finance to create scale up private investment, for instance through the UK Infrastructure Bank. 

4. A strong regulatory framework for enforcing the private sector transition to net zero, based on a UK taxonomy that rejects classifying gas or biomass as ‘green’, and with a new statutory objective for regulators to align the finance sector with net zero.

5. Leading internationally and fulfilling global commitments, for instance by scaling up grant-based support to low-income countries, and ending UK financing of new fossil fuel infrastructure abroad.

Read the full letter here (PDF download), and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #GreenFinanceStrategy.

You can find a press release on the joint statement here.

Signatories:

1. Andy Agathangelou, Founder, Transparency Task Force

2. Jamie Audsley, Head of Future Nature, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

3. Daniel Bailey, Senior Lecturer of International Political Economy, Manchester Metropolitan University

4. John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy, Queen’s University Belfast

5. Maaike Beenes, Campaign Lead Banks & Climate, BankTrack

6. Rachel Bentley, Associate Director, Centre for Local Economic Strategies

7. Dr Richard Benwell, CEO, Wildlife & Countryside Link

8. Jo Blackman, Head of Forests Policy and Advocacy, Global Witness

9. Mark Blyth, Professor of International Economics, The Watson Institute at Brown University

10. Fran Boait, Executive Director at Positive Money UK

11. Kathryn Brown, Director of Climate Change and Evidence, The Wildlife Trusts

12. Nick Bryer, Associate Director, Europe Campaigns, 350.org

13. Tony Burdon, CEO, Make My Money Matter

14. Mike Childs, Head of Science, Policy & Research, Friends of the Earth

15. David Comerford, Lecturer in Economics, University of Strathclyde

16. Paul Cook, Head of Advocacy, Tearfund

17. Christine Cooper, Chair in Accounting and Director of Research, University of Edinburgh Business School

18. Sophie Cowen, Director, Switch It Green

19. Yannis Dafermos, Senior Lecturer in Economics, SOAS University of London

20. Panicos Demetriades FAcSS, Professor Emeritus, University of Leicester

21. Dr Andy Denis, Fellow Emeritus, Economics Department, City, University of London

22. Timothy J. Dixon, Professor of Sustainable Futures in the Built Environment, University of Reading, UK

23. Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford

24. Maria-Krystyna Duval, Director of Climate, ClientEarth

25. Sarah Edwards, Executive Director, Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR)

26. Dirk Ehnts, Institute for International Political Economy and Pufendorf Society for Political Economy

27. Karen Ellis, Chief Economist, WWF UK

28. Owen Espley, Senior Economic Justice Campaigner, War on Want 

29. Felix FitzRoy, Emeritus Professor, School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews

30. Damon Gibbons, Executive Director, Centre for Responsible Credit

31. Oliver Greenfield, Convenor, Green Economy Coalition (GEC)

32. Jesse Griffiths, CEO, Finance Innovation Lab

33. Dr. Richard Hauxwell-Baldwin, Research & Campaigns Manager, MCS Charitable Foundation

34. Louise Hazan, Co-Founder, Tipping Point 

35. Catherine Howarth, Chief Executive, ShareAction

36. Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey

37. Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy, University of Sheffield

38. Amanda Janoo, Economics & Policy Lead, Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) 

39. Bob Jessop, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Lancaster University

40. Katie Kedward, Policy Fellow in Sustainable Finance, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

41. Steve Keen, Economist and Honorary Professor, University College London

42. Gerhard Kling, Chair in Finance, University of Aberdeen

43. Dr Neil Lancastle, Senior Lecturer, De Montfort University

44. Ben Margolis, Interim Director, The Climate Coalition (TCC)

45. Mick McAteer, Founder and Co-Director, The Financial Inclusion Centre; former Board Member, Financial Conduct Authority

46. Dr Amy McDonnell, Campaign Director, Zero Hour

47. James Meadway, Director, Progressive Economy Forum

48. Olga Mikheeva, Marie Curie Research Fellow, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

49. Luke Murphy, Associate Director for Energy, Climate, Housing and Infrastructure and Head of Environmental Justice Commission, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)

50. David Newbery, Director Energy Policy Research Group, University of Cambridge

51. Maria Nikolaidi, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Greenwich

52. Ozlem Onaran, Professor of Economics, University of Greenwich

53. Dr Nick Palmer, Head of Compassion in World Farming UK

54. Dr. Doug Parr, Head of Policy, Greenpeace UK 

55. ​​Ann Pettifor, Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME); member of the Scottish Just Transition Commission

56. Lydia Prieg, Head of Economics, New Economics Foundation

57. Kate Raworth, Senior Teaching Associate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

58. Flora Rebello Arduini, Campaigns Director, SumOfUs

59. Aidan Regan, Associate Professor of Political Economy, University College Dublin (UCD)

60. Nick Robins, Professor in Practice – Sustainable Finance, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, LSE

61. Sergio Rossi, Professor of Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

62. Josh Ryan-Collins, Associate Professor in Economics and Finance, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

63. Nick Shaxson, co-founder, Balanced Economy Project

64. Dale Southerton, Professor of Consumption and co-Director of the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures, The University of Bristol

65. Benjamin K. Sovacool, Professor of Energy Policy, University of Sussex 

66. Shaun Spiers, Executive director, Green Alliance

67. Beth Stratford, author and Political Economist

68. Peter Sweatman, Chief Executive, Climate Strategy & Partners

69. Rachael Sweet, Head of Campaigns & Advocacy, Save the Children UK

70. Shane Tomlinson, Acting CEO, E3G

71. Julia Steinberger, Professor of Ecological Economics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

72. David Tyfield, Professor in Sustainable Transitions and Political Economy, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University

73. Richard Wilkinson, Professor emeritus of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham Medical School

74. Simon Wren-Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Oxford University, UK

75. Dimitri Zenghelis, Special Advisor, Bennett Institute of Public Policy, University of Cambridge