The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) welcomes the UK Government’s updated Green Finance Strategy which importantly now recognises the key and unique role played by UK-based professional bodies.
As the leading charity and chartered professional membership body for those working in wealth management, financial planning and capital markets, the CISI is a co-signatory to the Green Finance Education Charter.
This demonstrates our commitment to incorporating ESG principles across the three elements which confirm our professionalism and which are integral to upholding standards across our membership: knowledge with our extensive continuing professional development suite, skills via our qualifications and exams and behaviour as reflected in our Code of Conduct and Integrity and Ethics programme.
This latest version of the Green Finance Strategy sets out the UK’s plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The strategy highlights climate and environmental factors as a financial imperative, with an emphasis on mobilising private finance for clean and resilient growth and cementing UK leadership in green finance. However, as the Sustainable Finance Education Charter reports in its ESG Skills Survey, UK employers, educators and the government together need to do more to secure the UK’s future as a global sustainable finance centre, and to deliver the commitments made by financial services firms.
Professional bodies are already playing their part as demonstrated in the Sustainable Finance Education Charter 2nd Progress Report. Signatories are incorporating ESG into initial and continuing professional development programmes.
CISI CEO Tracy Vegro said: “We warmly welcome the new UK Government Green Finance Strategy and in particular its heightened focus on education and skills. We must develop clean, resilient and prosperous economies that work for everyone. While Britain has led the world as a hub for innovation and growth in green and sustainable finance, our work with CISI’s global partners through our international offices has shown us that other countries are placing a higher priority on upskilling their financial services sectors. Britain must not lose its edge.
“UK financial services firms can do more to invest in the capacity and capabilities required to support their sustainability commitments and the UK’s net zero and other sustainability goals, especially as these evolve.
“We look forward to working with governments in the UK and globally, and with finance sector firms, regulators, professional bodies and others to raise our ambitions and build sustainable finance capacity and capabilities for all.
“The success of the Green, and now Sustainable, Finance Education Charter has demonstrated the convening power that professional bodies can exercise to help make the world a better place.”
