BOE to cut spending for work on climate change

BLOOMBERG

The Bank of England (BOE) plans to cut spending on climate change work and redirect the money to core functions because of rising pressures on its costs.
Climate programs will slip lower on the central bank’s agenda so officials can focus more on the core operations such as financial stability, markets and a digital currency, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named.
The BOE’s climate work currently focuses on building ESG disclosure guidelines, preparing insurers for risks from rising global temperatures and getting banks to carbon-test their balance sheets.
The move marks a sharp break from the emphasis Mark Carney put on climate during his term as BOE governor from 2013 to 2020. It reflects calls by politicians for the current Governor Andrew Bailey to focus on controlling inflation and identifying potential threats to financial markets.
Carney put climate-related risks to the economy at the heart of the BOE’s financial stability mandate, ordering stress tests on commercial lenders to ensure they were taking the long-term impact of rising global temperatures into account. He later became a United Nations special envoy on climate.
BOE officials led by Carney have been among the most vocal in speaking about the climate-related risks facing the global economy in the coming decades.