The CEOs of three major sustainable investment organisations have published an open letter calling on the UK government to exclude natural gas from the upcoming green taxonomy. The CEOs of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) said including natural gas in the UK green taxonomy would undermine its credibility and significantly damage the UK’s leadership on sustainable finance in future. Industry experts expect the green taxonomy to be published before the government’s summer recess, which starts late July. The draft taxonomy has been delayed several times, with it originally due to be published at the end of Q1 earlier this year. Stephanie Pfeifer, IIGCC’s CEO, said: “The fundamental objection to natural gas being included in the taxonomy is that it is not green. The taxonomy is meant to be a science-based tool to define ‘green activities’ and thereby provide clarity to investors over which of their investments – both current and prospective – can be considered green. There may be a legitimate role for natural gas as a ‘bridge’ during the energy transition, but this should not be interpreted as gas equating to green.”
📢 Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of IIGCC, signs joint letter with CEOs at @PRI_News and @UKSIF to the UK Government outlining the case against including natural gas in the UK Taxonomy.
Press release 👉 https://t.co/91t2pPXIUR
Full letter 👉 https://t.co/DfxeHFYwrP#netzero pic.twitter.com/pmBtDmFqii
— IIGCC (@IIGCCnews) June 21, 2022
