The 2015 United Nations climate change summit in Paris (COP21)
saw the first ever agreement under which virtually every country,
including the UK, pledged to constrain their greenhouse gas
emissions, with the aim of keeping average temperature increases
well below 2˚C above pre-industrial levels. Globally, there
has been an increasing recognition by central banks and financial
services regulators of the potential impact of climate change on
financial services markets and the important role that financial
services markets have on helping to combat climate change.
In the UK, the Government issued its 25 year Environment Plan in
2018 and, in June 2019, it laid down legislation to reach net zero
carbon emissions by 2050. It followed this up with its Green
Finance Strategy in July 2019 which recognised the crucial role of
the financial services sector in delivering global climate and
environmental objectives. In this article, Sushil Kuner, explores
why climate change is
