IT was not without good reason that the COP26 climate conference dominated the headlines.

While many will agree with our Prime Minister’s assertion that it is “one minute to midnight” for the planet, others may be more sceptical...

Despite the fact that it was a pivotal conference on climate change, hundreds of private jets were still used to ferry into Scotland political leaders from around the world.

In short, views and opinions on both climate change and the conference are always going to vary from one person to another.

But what I do think is a positive outcome from COP26 is that the whole topic of climate change has truly been opened up for debate.

It's safe to say that it has got us all talking, thinking and challenging our beliefs.

Certainly, a question our clients have been asking us in recent weeks is this: “What, if any, effect will COP26 have on savings and investments?”

A few days into the conference and it was reported that the biggest companies and financial institutions in the UK will soon be required to evidence how they will reach climate change targets.

By 2023, companies will need to set out detailed plans for how they will move to ‘a low carbon future’.

“The aim is to increase transparency and accountability,” said the Government, adding that it was not “making firm-level net zero commitments mandatory”.

With mounting pressure on companies to comply with environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements, it would be a reasonable assumption that a company’s results will increasingly be reviewed for a great deal more than their bottom-line performance - especially when legislation finds its way onto the statute books.

All this is unfolding at the same time as ‘impact investing’ is growing rapidly, particularly among younger investors.

This is classed as those investments that are made with the intention of generating positive environmental and societal change alongside a financial return.

Whatever their feelings about the environment - or attitude to COP26 - companies may well find themselves with little choice other than to meet the demands of legislative changes and/or pressure from potential investors.

The simple answer to the question we're being asked by clients about the impact of COP26 on savings and investments is this...

We expect to see little effect on savings and investments immediately.

But the attitude of legislators and campaigners is clear: companies will need to change what they do and how they report results to investors.

That will be a challenge for the companies, as well as fund managers and investment managers.

They’ll need to consider a lot more than profitability, market share and future growth prospects.

But as all our clients know, we work with some of the very best fund managers there are - and we’re in regular contact with them, making sure that their savings and investments stay on track to meet their long-term financial planning goals.

If you have any questions about your investments, or if you would like to discuss the options for investing responsibly, please get in touch and we will be happy to help.