King’s Business School, part of King’s College London, has published an e-book outlining key climate finance policies the new UK Labour government can implement in its first 100 days to help accelerate the country’s energy transition. The book, entitled ‘Accelerating Transition: Climate Finance Policies to Prioritise in The First 100 Days’, was edited by David Carlin – a visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London and founder of Cambium Global Solutions – along with King’s Business School academics David Aikman and Marc Lepere, and Luca Taschini of the University of Edinburgh Business School. It contains more than 30 chapters written by leading academics on a range of topics under five headings: climate risk management; data and regulation; market incentives; international finance; and the built environment. The book comes just weeks after the Labour party under Prime Minister Keir Starmer ousted the Conservatives in a general election, on a platform of much greater climate ambition. It also follows warnings from the Climate Change Committee that Britain is not on track to meet its 2030 emissions goals. “Amid the challenges of climate change and the low-carbon transition, there is a historic opportunity for the UK – the home of the industrial revolution – to become a global leader in sustainable finance,” the four editors wrote in the introduction. “Effective policies can enable the UK to transform into a net-zero financial hub, spur innovation, and promote economic growth.” Recommendations include setting up the Office of Sustainability Planning; introducing double materiality into the Sustainable Disclosure Requirements (SDRs); requiring companies to disclose potential impairments as a result of global warming; bringing the UK’s climate finance regulation in line with EU’s; and issuing the UK’s first dedicated adaptation bond.
