Green investment lacking ‘urgency’

RIYADH: Global institutions are lacking urgency when it comes to investing in green initiatives, Arab News quoted leading figures in the financial sector, as saying in a sobering assessment of the battle against climate change.

Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative Forum in Riyadh, prominent players in Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), asset management firm Ninety One, and HSBC Holdings all called for the pace of investments to increase.

Fahad AlSaif, head of Global Capital Finance at PIF, told delegates: “The essence of the urgency is not there yet. There has to be collaboration, across global institutions, it is a trust problem in delivering.”

He added: “I worry about the balance of pace we are moving.”

His concerns were echoed by John Green, chief commercial officer at Ninety One, who also revealed that 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the conversations he has with clients are about energy.

“Action in real financing is not there,” he said, arguing that not enough is being invested in developing economies.

Noel Quinn, group CEO at HSBC Holdings, said that while ‘acceleration’ in this area is “really fast”, the Covid-19 pandemic has acted “as a wakeup call to say a natural event can have an effect on economy”.

Julia Hoggett, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, insisted the six months following the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, are ‘critical’ for turning any announcements into action.

“I believe in pipes and plumbing,” she said.