Finance chief seeks Scots firms

Scottish fintech and green finance businesses are being offered the chance to join future trade delegations with the UK’S financial services ambassador to promote sustainable investment.

Lord Mayor of London William Russell, the elected head of the City of London Corporation, is actively seeking companies to take part in upcoming trade visits to China, Japan and the Gulf.

Russell is currently in Scotland, having yesterday cochaired a roundtable with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to bring together investors and business leaders in the green finance sector, including representatives from HSBC, JP Morgan, and Aberdeen Standard.

As well as his mission to “turn green finance into the norm”, Russell is looking to make connections with investors and innovative ecofriendly businesses based in Scotland.

He said: “My visit here is a bit of a call to action that the green finance sector is really that important. So is fintech but green finance is the big focus. If there’s anything that we can get from the Scottish communitythatwouldbewonderful.”

Russell emphasised the need for government and corporate players to fund green projects, as the Global Commission on theeconomyandclimateestimates that $90 trillion (£69tn) will need to be invested globally by 2030 to transition into a sustainable economy.

This includes spreading the word on green bonds, whose proceedsareusedtofundenvironmentally-friendlyprojects. Green bonds accounted for 2.8 per cent of global bonds proceeds last year, more than tripling their market share since 2015.

Russell’s visit comes ahead of Glasgow hosting the COP26, the UN’S climate change conference, in November. “All roads lead to Glasgow and COP 26,” said Russell. “That’s where, in my view, we have to come out with something that is positive and tangible.”