Whether it’s making the ferries, container ships, lorries and operations at the Port of Dover fit for the future or sorting out the flooding and sewage system in Deal, delivering net zero and our ambitious environmental programme will require huge investment.
That’s why I have been working on a landmark report of the APPG for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) on strengthening the framework for green investment in global finance. I am an officer of the APPG whose work aims to improve the role of ESG in global finance.
The cross-party APPG called for the UK Government to move forward more quickly on the rolling out of a UK Green Taxonomy. The Green Taxonomy will be an accountability structure to ensure that money intended for environmental and social purposes is meeting that goal.
The report calls for the green taxonomy to be launched as soon as possible “to avoid losing second-mover advantage and the chance to claim leadership status in the global transition to Net Zero”. The report emphasised the importance of credible, science-based UK Taxonomy, which is purpose-driven.
It highlighted six environmental objectives: Climate change mitigation; Climate change adaptation; Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources; Transition to a circular economy; Pollution prevention and control; and Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
A Green Taxonomy is a technical tool. What it means is that it will help to bring money to the UK by adding confidence to global finance investing in Britain that the projects they invest in will meet social and environmental objectives. It will help to ensure that we are able to build on the steps already taken to encourage green and sustainable investment so the UK can reap extra economic and environmental benefits from it.
There are billions of pounds of global finance which wants to find a home in environmental and social projects. This is an area I worked on before I came into Parliament, I welcome the intent of the APPG report and its recommendations.