Public-private partnerships key to UK clean energy growth

In 100 days, world political, business and climate leaders will gather in Baku, Azerbaijan for COP29. The annual COP meeting is the culmination of a year of hard work and progress towards our climate goals. I, along with City companies, will be at COP29 offering our support to help achieve net zero emissions.

As a country with significant oil and gas production, Azerbaijan’s role as host will be significant in how we address the global clean energy transition. Taking into account the COP29 motto “Solidarity for a Green World”, we will also discuss strengthening global commitments to greenhouse gas reductions, ensuring that climate action is inclusive and equitable, and – an area of ​​particular importance to the city – financing climate adaptation and resilience.

London is a world-leading centre for sustainable finance. Our latest Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) report revealed that UK financial institutions have almost tripled their investment in clean energy projects in just one year to $2.3 billion in 2023.

The city offers a wide range of green financial products and services: green bonds, environment, society and corporate governance (ESG) climate-related investments and financial instruments. We also have an ecosystem committed to green leadership, from strong regulatory frameworks to innovative financial products, concentrating expertise and capital to help drive the global transformation towards a low-carbon economy.

Mobilizing private capital and the green expertise that City excels at, and supporting global change, will deliver net zero emissions. This will help the planet and our own prospects as innovators in the global green economy.

But achieving net zero emissions through financial services can also help unlock economic growth closer to home.

One of the government’s “five missions” is to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Only recently have we heard the Chancellor’s diagnoses of the state of the public finances; the government has no money to fund our own climate transformation – The city must help.

Collaborative, public-private partnerships between Westminster and the City can pave the way for green prosperity. By investing in the country’s green infrastructure and engaging in research into new green technologies, we can seize the huge opportunities presented by the transition to net zero emissions. The rewards are enormous: creating new, highly skilled jobs, cutting costs for working families and securing our country’s green energy supply – all while strengthening our global reputation as this centre for sustainable finance.

At the City of London Corporation, we recognise that long-term economic growth – growth that permanently transforms our country, radically delivering new opportunities in every corner of the UK – can only be achieved if it is sustainable. Economic growth and sustainability are two sides of the same coin, you can’t have one without the other.

In our Vision of economic growthwe suggested that political parties should anchor the UK as a leader in sustainable finance to deliver the economic growth we all know we need. With the right conditions – public and private partnerships – we can unlock the billions that will be needed for our own transformation.

We know this partnership model can work because the City Corporation’s bold Climate Action Strategy did exactly that. Our investment in Dorset Solar Farm supports green jobs, provides us with renewable electricity and saves us over £3 million a year. As a country, we should be unabashedly ambitious, investing in green technology, cutting emissions and achieving net zero.

As we look to COP29, it is here at the Square Mile that we have the expertise and finance to support people, businesses and countries in their net zero emissions goals. By placing ourselves at the centre of this global net zero movement, we can attract further investment to the city and the country, delivering high-skilled jobs and growth that will transform our prospects and our carbon footprint.

By city AM

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