The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s Growing Back Better report features insight from the Institute, referencing our written evidence, which was submitted in partnership with the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute and the Green Finance Institute.
The report describes COVID-19 as “a symptom of a growing ecological emergency” and calls for solutions, necessary to halt biodiversity loss and slow climate change, that will spur innovation, create jobs and make the economy and society more resilient to future crises.
The Institute’s contribution to the report
The Institute’s evidence submission highlights that:
- The coronavirus pandemic has shown what happens when a known risk crystallises and provides a live stress-test for the devastating impacts of unrestrained climate change.
- The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated a range of inequalities in society in terms of income, gender, race, age and location, emphasising that the move to a green economy will also need to be socially inclusive to deliver a Just Transition.
- In designing a green sovereign bond, a robust green finance framework needs to be established that shows how the proceeds would be deployed by the Government, including measures to fend off any charges of greenwashing. Strategic thought must also be put into identifying how the catalytic effect can be maximised in terms of follow-on issuance, both domestically and internationally.
The report also draws on our CEO Sarah Gordon’s oral evidence to the committee on our Green+ Gilt proposal, which highlights that the Government should consider how its sovereign green bond can provide employment opportunities and opportunities for the City of London to become a global leader on green finance. It also calls for the new National Infrastructure Bank’s mandate to commit the bank explicitly to financing net zero projects, and for it to also deliver social co-benefits with its investments.
The Institute will continue to engage with policymakers on the need for a Just Transition, highlighting the role that private finance can play in tackling climate change while creating jobs and improving living standards in the UK and across the world.