The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) has published an open letter to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen MP stating its, and its members, desire to align with the EU’s sustainable finance reforms regardless of the outcome of EU exit.

The Government has said that it is committed to 'match the ambition' of the EU's sustainable finance reforms that aim to reorientate capital flows towards sustainable investment and manage financial risks stemming from climate change whilst also making financial products transparent so that informed decisions
about investments can be made by investors.

The EU has recently passed two major regulations, first introducing new requirements for sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector and establishing a framework (the 'taxonomy') to facilitate sustainable investment.

As the UK leaves the EU these two EU regulations will no longer apply, and so far the UK has no equivalent primary legislation that grants ministers or regulators the power to make regulations that would match the scope of the EU's sustainable finance reforms. Therefore 'matching the ambition' will therefore require the creation of a new legal framework.

The letter thus urges the Government to bring forward plans at the earliest opportunity for an Act of Parliament that will create a UK version of the EU's sustainable finance reforms.

The letter is signed by Simon Howard, and backed by several major investors, including Aviva Investors and Columbia Threadneedle who fear that In a post-COVID post-EU Britain the need to cerate a greener financial services sector could be delayed.

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