LONDON – Britain's prime minister has appointed outgoing Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to a special advisory role ahead of the U.N. climate change conference to be held in Scotland in November.
Boris Johnson said Carney will offer expertise in mobilizing business and investors across the financial system in supporting the “net zero revolution,'' the effort to reach net zero carbon emissions. Ahead of the summit, Britain is pushing for other nations to toughen their targets on cutting emissions.
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Carney was recently named as the U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Advising Johnson is a part-time role that will be undertaken on a pro bono basis.
"The combination of these critical meetings and the U.K.'s global leadership in financial services provides a unique opportunity to address climate change by transforming the financial system,'' Carney said. “To seize it, all financial decisions need to take into account the risks from climate change and the opportunities from the transition to a net zero economy."
The talks in Glasgow are seen as the most crucial round of UN climate negotiations since the Paris Agreement in 2015. The agreement set goals of preventing another 0.9 degrees (0.5 degrees Celsius) to 1.8 degrees (1 degree Celsius) of warming from current levels.
The deal calls for nations to come up with more ambitious pollution cuts every five years - starting with the meeting in Scotland.
Britain has passed a law committing the country to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by mid-century. Analysts have warned that it is currently not on target to meet such a goal.