Finance Monthly - January 2022

ollowing the close of COP26, sustainability is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. The conference highlighted the need for organisations to drive greater investment, focus and action to make the world a more sustainable place to live. Microsoft: Accelerating the Journey to Net-Zero Aheadof theconference,Microsoft published an academic study in partnership with Dr Chris Brauer, Goldsmiths, University of London, that painted a picture of the UK’s current sustainability climate and a blueprint to accelerate action. Its findings offered a stark warning – despite strong sustainability commitments and ambitions – only 41% of UK organisations are set to hit the government’s 2050 net-zero target, currently. Why are UK Businesses Struggling with Sustainability? In benchmarking UK organisations’ progress on sustainability, the findings illustrated that UK leaders are struggling to turn sustainability commitments into tangible action and the financial services industry is no exception. When looking specifically at sector data, the team of academics found that currently, only 16% of financial institutions surveyed will be net-zero by 2050 – a number far below the national average of 41%. Although every organisation must play their part in reducing global warming, the UK’s financial institutions are in a unique position to drive change, not just for themselves, but for the entire UK economy. The financial services sector has the power to lead by example and by reducing their exposure to high carbon sectors, using tools to measure the impact of investments on the planet, they can encourage sustainable growth and investment across the nation. Before diving into how financial institutions can turn their commitments into action, it’s important to understand where exactly they’re struggling. For the majority, financial organisations are failing to set out policies that enact their Bus i ne s s & Economy 24 Finance Monthly.