Investors urge governments for more climate action

World leaders will gather in Cornwall on Friday for the G7 summit. With the backdrop of a pandemic recovery, the event is likely to have a packed agenda including global vaccine rollouts, economic recovery plans and climate change.

The G7 summit is also seen as a crucial event in the lead up to COP26 – the global climate conference taking place in Glasgow this November. The conference is expected to review progress towards global warming targets set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Earlier this year, members of G7 reaffirmed their commitments for tackling the climate crisis, with both the UK and US government setting new interim emissions targets for 2030. Evidence suggests that targets such as these are beginning to have an influence on the decisions of businesses, communities and even investors.

“We believe that those [countries] who set ambitious targets in line with achieving net-zero emissions, and implement consistent national climate policies in the short-to-medium term, will become increasingly attractive investment destinations. Countries that fail to do so will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage,” reads an open letter signed by 456 global investors with $41 trillion in assets.

With signatories including St. James’s Place, the letter urges governments to strengthen policies which can accelerate investment towards the net-zero transition.