The UK government has dropped a flagship plan to introduce a green taxonomy — a framework designed to standardise carbon emissions calculations and prevent companies from exaggerating their environmental credentials.
The decision comes after a public consultation into the proposed policy, which would have required companies and investment funds to be more transparent and rigorous when making environmental claims. The move was widely seen by campaigners and sustainable investment groups as a critical step in fighting “greenwashing” — the practice of overstating environmental performance to appeal to eco-conscious investors and consumers.
In a statement, the Treasury said: “After careful consideration of the responses, the government has concluded that a UK taxonomy would not be the most effective tool to deliver the green transition and should not be part of our sustainable finance framework.”
It added that other regulatory measures are now a higher priority for accelerating private sector investment into the transition to net zero and that the taxonomy would have offered limited additional benefit over existing frameworks.
The decision has prompted criticism from the sustainable investment community. The UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), which represents 300 members managing £19 trillion in assets, described the move as “disappointing”.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
