A host should set the tone for a gathering. And so, as delegates descended on Glasgow for the COP26 summit last November, the UK government announced that the country would become “the world’s first net zero-aligned financial centre”. Listed companies and big asset managers would be required to publish a plan for achieving net zero carbon emissions — or explain why they could not.
The UK’s status as a global financial hub meant that the announcement was of more than local interest — and the deadline is now less than a year away. By June 2023, UK-listed companies will have to publish net zero transition plans, as will regulated investors who manage more than £50bn in assets, or own more than £25bn. Smaller asset managers with at least £5bn under management have until June 2024 to follow suit.
What is less certain is precisely what the government will expect plans to comprise, and how it will sanction companies whose plans fall short.