16 February 2021

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With funding from the National Environment Research Council and Innovate UK, the new UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment (CGFI) will be launched in April 2021, ahead of the COP26 UN climate summit taking place in Glasgow later in the year.

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Access to scientifically robust data and analytics is currently patchy and unreliable. The CGFI, which will be led by Dr Ben Caldecott, aims to provide financial institutions around the world with the information needed to realise a more sustainable planet. 

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This will help financial institutions shift money away from risky activities that harm the environment, such as coal-fired power and deforestation, and towards activities that are less harmful, such as renewable power and sustainable agriculture.

New physical hubs in Leeds and London will support companies and start-ups commercialise products that can green global finance, including tools that measure storm and flood risk facing properties or the pollution created by companies and the liabilities that result. The Centre will work with finance professions, such as the Chartered Bankers Institute and Chartered Financial Analysts UK, to ensure that every professional financial decision takes climate change into account.

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The CGFI will deliver on commitments made in the UK Government's 2019 Green Finance Strategy, and the announcement signals the UK's commitment to using its global finance sector to support the transition to a net zero carbon and nature positive future.

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Dr Ben Caldecott said:

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"CGFI will allow financial institutions to access scientifically robust climate and environmental data for any point on planet earth now and projected into the future, and for every major sector of the global economy. Doing so will create public goods and unlock innovation. The UK is perfectly placed to transform the availability of climate and environmental data in finance. We have world-leading capabilities in all the various areas that need to come together to solve the problem."

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"The market for ESG data, of which climate and environmental data is a large part, is expected to reach US$1bn in 2021 and grow annually by 20%. It is our view that this is actually a significant underestimate of future growth potential. The CGFI will support enterprises providing climate and environmental analytics and realise the opportunity for UK plc of being a world-leader in commercialising products that can green global finance."

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> Find out more about the UK CGFI

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> Read more in The Financial Times

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