Outgoing Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney has called on the City of London to play its part in tackling climate change.

Carney, who stepped down on January 31 after nearly seven years heading up the BoE, last month was appointed finance adviser for COP26, the upcoming 2020 United Nations Climate Change conference later this year.

COP26 will take place in Glasgow from November 9 to 19 and this year will be co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Italy.

“Given the scale of the climate challenge and the rising expectations of our citizens, 2020 must be a year of climate action where everybody’s in, and that includes the world’s leading financial centre,” Carney said.

“To identify the largest opportunities and to manage the associated risks, disclosures of climate risk must become comprehensive, climate risk management must be transformed and investing for a net-zero world must go mainstream,” he added.

Carney’s remarks came as the BoE unveiled the private finance agenda for COP26. The objective of the agenda is to ensure that every professional finance decision takes into account climate change.

“Financial markets are increasingly demanding clear disclosure and active management of climate opportunities and risks. Private finance is uniquely placed to help support the transition required by amplifying changes in attitudes, consumer preferences and climate policy,” the BoE said on its website.

The meeting in Glasgow will be the third part of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris accord was signed in 2016, with 194 states and the European Union signatories to the agreement. It has as a goal to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2℃ above pre-industrial levels and, ultimately, to keep the increase to 1.5℃.

London is the world’s second largest financial centre, after New York.

FURTHER READING: WEF: Climate dominates risks to world economy