November’s COP26 summit didn’t go far enough to address the climate crisis affecting our planet. But there were many positive steps taken at the event, including a major win for sustainable finance, which was led by WWF and made possible thanks to your support.
New rules were announced that will require UK firms to outline plans for how they’ll hit their climate targets and move closer to achieving net zero emissions. This will help drive business actions and investments that are good for people and nature.
We began calling for action from businesses with the publication of The Big Smoke report in May 2021. It showed that just a small part of the UK finance sector was responsible for financing 805 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2019 through its lending and investment activities. This equates to 1.8 times the annual net emissions of the UK.
Watch the trailer for Our Planet: Too Big To Fail
Our film, co-created with Silverback Films, highlights the role that the finance sector can play in creating positive change for the natural world. You can watch the whole film on the WWF International YouTube channel.
In October 2021 we launched our Turning Blue Chips Green report. This showed that voluntary action wasn’t driving the change that’s needed in the UK’s top 100 companies, and that compulsory transition plans are needed for companies and finance institutes.
In the same month, we helped persuade over 40 organisations, including some FTSE100 companies, to sign a letter to the Chancellor calling on him to create the legislation that would make these transition plans mandatory.
With your help, we were able to research the problem and then build support in the finance sector to push these changes forward. Our #WeWontForget campaign will keep the pressure on the government to make sure they deliver on this promise.
#WeWontForget
Pledge your support to keep climate action on track by making sure the government keeps its promises.
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