On 30 May 2022, the House of Commons’ Environment Audit Committee issued a call for evidence ‘The financial sector and the UK’s net zero transition’.
The committee invites written submissions addressing any or all of the issues raised in the following terms of reference in relation to decarbonisation initiatives and their impact, by 5 pm on 30 June 2022:
- Corporate approaches to the financing of existing and planned fossil fuel projects.
- The potential effectiveness of the financial sector, including through alliances such as GFANZ, in encouraging the decarbonisation of the economy in time to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C.
- Pathways to reducing investment in fossil fuel extraction.
- Current and planned investment in renewable energy generation, distribution and storage.
- The effect (if any) on the pace and scale of disinvestment plans of disruption to supply chains and energy markets arising from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and what is being done to mitigate any such effects.
- Likely pathways to the responsible retirement of fossil fuel assets, in a way which is compatible with the UK’s national interest, reducing the risk of stranded assets and meeting the UK’s international climate obligations.