Brits love talking about the weather – so let’s talk about investing in climate action
Up until very recently, British people loved talking about the weather. It has long been part of our cultural zeitgeist and public representation.
A BBC survey from 2015 found that four in 10 people admitted to having a conversation about the weather in the 60 minutes preceding answering the survey.
Fast forward seven years and British people are still talking about the weather, but under a whole new context.
Over the last month, the UK has had warnings of heatwaves, torrential rain, and thunderstorms – all weather events which could lead to floods, travel disruption and danger to life. All have been linked to climate change.
Yes, this is our present, but it does not have to become our future. It is within our power to tackle climate change, and businesses have a leading role to play.
Many companies are already playing their part but there is scope to step up and do even more. I have travelled across the country, encouraged our financial and professional services firms to go even further in embracing their environmental responsibility – not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because the race to net-zero brings great business opportunities.
A net zero future will be great for the planet and phenomenal for our economy. The journey there will drive sustainable economic growth, provide huge employment, export opportunities and cost savings.
In fact, the CBI recently found – if firms continue to invest sufficiently in sustainable innovation and energy efficiency – there will be at least 240,000 new green jobs by 2030 across all parts of the UK.
But achieving net zero will require businesses across every sector to make real changes. We’ve made progress: 60 per cent of FTSE 100 companies have signed up to the UN’s “Race to Zero” campaign.
The City of London Corporation is actively pushing our climate action strategy, and working to galvanise the sector to focus on delivery and the mobilisation of capital towards investment in a resilient future.
In our own actions, The City Corporation is presenting a model of how to do so. We have cut our annual carbon emissions by 31 per cent since 2018, and we are working to make our property portfolio even more energy efficient. This includes our historic headquarters at Guildhall, the Old Bailey, and the Barbican Arts Centre, are driving our progress.
We aim to reach net zero in our own operations by 2027 and our progress will be open and measurable. We have also published a first-of-its-kind climate action dashboard, with independently verified data and transparency on our progress.
And it is clear to me that businesses who are running the race to net zero are attracting more customers, winning more contracts, and benefiting from a happier and more motivated workforce. Solving the climate crisis is not the sole responsibility of any one part of our community – not the government, not the business sector, not the councils, or the scientists
It will require everyone in the UK to work together to make our shared ambitions a reality and turn our biggest economic and social challenge into a transformative opportunity for the country.