'Misguided': Jupiter and Robeco join £1.5trn investor group urging Sunak to stop green delay

investmentweek.co.uk:

Credit: HM Treasury/Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Led by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), a further 32 investors and financial institutions have urged the government to change course on its «misguided» plans.

The group, representing more than £1.5trn in assets under management, wrote to the PM: «We are deeply concerned by your decision to backtrack on vital policy measures that support the UK's transition to net zero.

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»Diluting ambition at this critical juncture erodes the UK's position as a global leader on climate, undermines our international competitiveness and increases the risk that we fail to capitalise on one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21^st century."

The letter noted that an «enabling policy environment» is a «prerequisite» for investors looking to make long-term investment decisions in line with their fiduciary duty to clients to «manage risk and opportunities».

«The latest moving of the goalposts fundamentally undermines this.»

The group argued a «coherent, whole-of-government approach to the economic transition, underpinned by detailed policies» is a necessity if the nation is to meet its legally binding climate commitments.

To enable private finance to commit the additional £50-60bn of capital required each year to meet these commitments — a figure cited by the government in its 2023 green finance strategy — the group has asked the PM to maintain the ‘four Cs' that «underpin effective policymaking»: certainty, consistency, clarity and continuity.

'Investors