China and the City of London working together on Belt and Road

The Green Finance Initiative of the City of London Corporation has published a set of green finance guidelines for the Belt and Road Initiative.

Published in seven languages, the Green Investment Principles aim to incorporate low-carbon and sustainable development into China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

They hope to encouraging firms involved in projects along the Belt and Road to sign up to a voluntary code of practice.

The announcement was made in London at the third meeting of the UK-China Green Finance Taskforce, chaired by Sir Roger Gifford and Dr Ma Jun, who sits on the People’s Bank of China Monetary Policy Committee.

Dr Ma, said that the world is facing serious environmental and climate challenges. “Most of the world’s infrastructure investments in the coming decades will be in B&R countries, and these projects will have a significant impact on environment and climate.”

Earlier this year, partnership between China and the UK in green finance received a £2 million boost.

This was due to the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strength allocating funds for technical assistance activities in green finance in China.

At a meeting in Beijing in March, the previous Lord Mayor of the City of London, Charles Bowman and Dr. Ma Jun, announced the establishment of a UK-China Green Finance Centre.

“We are delighted with this UK Green finance initiative led by City of London” said, Dr Ma Jun. “The UK and China partnership in green finance has been crucial to drive this agenda globally”.