Following today’s news (3 March) that the UK Government plans to issue green bonds and create a retail saving program, and found a UK infrastructure bank in Leeds to invest in the green industrial revolution, with an initial £12bn capitalisation  and £40bn investment as part of its 2021 budget.

Alice Cordo Gallucci, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Green competition is critical to meeting net-zero targets. A mechanism to drive competition is emerging worldwide, and the UK budget, through the UK infrastructure bank, will spur this change.

“Companies now have two options: proactively invest to make their business models sustainable and get ahead of the curve or fail to innovate and be swept away by the green transition. The rewards to be reaped by those who fully embrace sustainability are plenty, but so will be the financial risks for those who fall behind”.

Luke Gowland, Thematic Analyst at GlobalData, adds:

“Governments, investors and the public are pushing companies to slash emissions. As a result, climate change commitments are becoming an area of competition for companies. Businesses in every region and sector of the economy are making ambitious new commitments to de-carbonize their operations. The result is a positive feedback loop in which stakeholders harness market forces to drive this positive change towards more sustainable operations”.