Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of (a) the implications for his policies of the Bank of International Settlement’s report, Sustainable finance: trends, valuations and exposures, published September 2021 and (b) the risks to UK investors and public finances of a green finance bubble.

Greening the financial system is fundamental to meeting the UK’s net zero commitment and so it is positive that we are seeing increasing inflows of investments into green assets.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) report into sustainable finance encourages authorities to monitor green financial assets and improve transparency for the sector.

UK financial authorities have strong risk-management processes in place to monitor financial markets. The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) continually assesses the resilience of the financial system, and UK financial authorities work closely to manage risks at both the domestic and international level.

The Chancellor’s ambition is for the UK to be the best place in the world for green and sustainable finance. The UK is already taking bold action to achieve this, introducing economy-wide sustainability disclosure requirements to give companies the data they need to embed sustainability into everything they do. The Government has gone further by taking a leading role in pressing for global action in international fora such as the G7 and G20, and at COP26.