Net Zero Watch has warned Boris Johnson to follow Germany’s lead and put Environment, Social and Governance (“ESG”) regulations on ice or suffer severe competitive disadvantage.
Increasingly conversations about climate and energy policy are becoming narrow and polarised. Net Zero Watch gives “a clear view of the reality of climate and energy policies and what they mean for you.”
The EU set out to create a labelling system to define which economic activities are sustainable. But for more than a year, there have been a battles among EU member states to determine which investments are environmentally friendly. This regulatory steamroller was intended to make climate-friendly investments more attractive to private capital firms, preventing “greenwashing,” which happens when companies and government entities overstate their environmental credentials to acquire lucrative contracts and tax incentives, Forbes reported at the beginning of this year.
According to press reports from earlier this week, Germany’s Financial Supervisory Authority (“BaFin”) has halted planned rules for classifying “green” investment funds as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through global energy markets.
BaFin’s announcement is a clear sign that Germany is beginning to break green shackles that are holding back economic growth, putting Europe’s biggest economy essentially on a war footing.
Net Zero Watch director Benny Peiser said:
“Germany is taking radical steps to remove obstacles and potential threats to energy security amid the looming ban of Russian energy imports.
“Britain needs to follow suit if it doesn’t want to worsen the energy cost crisis and suffer severe competitive disadvantage.”
Read More: Calls For Boris Johnson to Follow Germany’s Lead and Put ESG on Ice
