RISHI Sunak has announced that thew UK will become the first carbon neutral financial centre in the world during an address to COP26.

The Chancellor also said the UK would be investing £100m to help developing countries pay for projects which can help in their fight against climate change.

In the opening speech of today’s conference, which focuses on finance, Mr Sunak also reiterated that not enough progress had been made in providing $100bn to developing countries to tackle global warming, as was agreed in 2015.

He said: “I want to speak directly to the developing countries of the world. We know that you've been devastated by the double tragedies of Coronavirus and climate change… it's why we're going to meet the target to provide $100 billion of climate finance to developing countries.

“And while we know we are not yet meeting it soon enough, we will work closely with developing countries to do more and to reach the target sooner.”

He said over the next five years the G20 would give $500bn to “countries that need it most” and added: “Today, I can announce that the United Kingdom will commit £100m to the task force on access to climate finance, making it quicker and easier for developing countries to access the finance they need.”

Mr Sunak also talked about private companies and their need to be more transparent about their own climate credentials, which is why he was announcing the UK would become the “first ever net zero financial centre”.

He said the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero – a group of 450 finance firms across the world – had between them $130 trillion of assets which created a “historic wall of capital to the net zero transition.” But said they needed security and reassurance that their investments were going to the right projects.

The Chancellor it was vital to “rewire the entire global financial system to net zero” with “better and more consistent climate data, sovereign green bonds, mandatory sustainability disclosures, proper climate risk surveillance, stronger global reporting standards… all things we need to deliver.”

He said the UK was “playing its part” by making it mandatory for firms to disclose its climate-related financial information, but added: “I'm announcing that the UK will go further and become the first ever net zero allied financial centre.”

He concluded: “So a renewed pledge to $100 billion a year of public funding, over $130 trillion of private capital waiting to be deployed, and a greener financial system underway.

“Six years ago, Paris set the ambition today in Glasgow, we're providing the investment we need to deliver that ambition.”

The Herald:

He was also joined by Alok Sharma, COP26 President and Conservative MP, who compared delegates and those concerned about climate change to the environmentalist Swampy, who was active in the 1990s and was involved in a number of high-profile protests.

Mr Sharma said: “When I started my career in finance in the 1990s in the city, there was a guy called Swampy - some of you may recall him. He spent his time occupying trees and tunnels, and he was the main face of climate action in the United Kingdom.

“But today, the Swampys of the world are all around us - in boardrooms, in government departments, in multilateral development banks and trading floors all around the world.

“You, my friends, are the new Swampys, so be proud.”