Why ‘saving the world’ is entwined with growth 

When the outgoing chair of Aberdeen Group, Sir Douglas Flint, said financiers had made a “huge mistake” by claiming they could “save the world”, it made headlines.  

The ex-HSBC chair’s speech was quoted in the national press after he addressed a City of London conference at the end of last month. He told his audience fund managers had come to believe, “We’re not really about investing money, we’re just jolly good people and we’re saving the world”.  

It wasn’t long before Sir Douglas’s words were seized on by media commentators, claiming it was indicative of the ‘broader ESG rollback’. The passing of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill’ just a day later, which slashed clean energy subsidies, seemed to support this gloomy thesis. 

But dig a little deeper and you’ll find the UK government’s high-level decisions have struck a decidedly different tone over the past few weeks. 

The ‘Modern Industrial Strategy’, which was published at the start of London Climate Action Week, got the ball rolling by echoing UKSIF’s view that the net-zero transition is the “economic opportunity of the century”. This is supported by recent CBI analysis showing how the UK’s net-zero economy grew 10% in 2024, generating £83bn in gross value added.  

More explicitly, there was an encouraging commitment to “embedding sustainability across the economy by backing sustainability-focused Professional and Business Services”.

Investors were further told that the government would “take every appropriate opportunity to combine public and private funding to attract private capital”. And there were pledges to use the National Wealth Fund to “share risks with investors”, a move UKSIF has called for. 

We welcome these lofty ambitions while pressing for their rapid delivery. And over recent days, a trickle of further announcements has begun to lay the foundations for enacting this sustainability-focused agenda.  

The decision to bring forward a long-awaited consultation on mandatory climate transition plans – first mooted by the Conservative government in 2021 – is a constructive step forward. We believe these roadmaps, which have so far been adopted by 70% of FTSE 100 companies, are crucial for making the right decisions on growth and resilience as the world decarbonises. 

The government’s choice to seek further dialogue on implementing the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards is also a promising development. We need companies to offer transparent disclosures that align with similar international frameworks as we head towards net zero. 

The pledge to almost double England’s onshore wind capacity sent the right signals about the government’s commitment to rolling out renewable energy infrastructure. And the certainty that flowed from its decision on the Review of the Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme will also be useful for investors going forward. 

It’s undeniable that political upheaval in the US has hit investor confidence. But in the UK, the pendulum is swinging the other way, as we seek to future-proof our energy system and further grow our thriving green economy, backed by private capital. 

This aligns with an enhanced focus on sustainability in other parts of Europe. In June, for example, Poland used renewables to generate 44.1% of its electricity, beating coal and lignite plants, which produced only 43.7%.  

The Netherlands made records by generating 40.5% of its electricity in May and June using solar energy. Greece followed with 35.1%, according to the energy think tank Ember. This helped the EU’s renewable sector pass nuclear power to generate more electricity than any other power source over the same period. 

Let’s be clear, the UK is still in the foothills of its transition to a clean economy, and further policy certainty will be needed to prove the country’s attractiveness to long-term investors. We have specifically called for the government to bring forward much-needed reforms of the planning system, with large-scale sustainable projects still stifled by exhaustive procedures.  

But it does feel like the UK is charting a course in the right direction, while recognising the opportunities and challenges posed by climate change and the shift to net zero. 

Returning to Sir Douglas’s comments, the sustainable investing sector has always been focused on making strong long-term returns, without the need for any romanticisation. At a time when many nations have set their sights on decarbonisation, more and more financiers are recognising that these gains are entwined with ‘saving the world’.