Lord Alok Sharma has been appointed chair of the Transition Finance Council and Irem Yerdelen as Deputy Chair.

The Transition Finance Council was one of the key recommendations of the Transition Finance Market Review, published in October 2024, and will include representation from the financial and professional services sectors, real economy, government, regulators, standard setters, and civil society.

Lord Sharma served in a range of UK government ministerial roles prior his appointment as Secretary of State for International Development in 2019 and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in 2020. He also served from 2020 to 2022 as president designate, and subsequently as president, of COP26 the UN Climate Conference held in Glasgow.

Councillor Irem Yerdelen served as the member of TFMR Expert Group and provides ongoing leadership in City Corporation’s sustainable finance goals.

The announcement follows the practical recommendation of Transition Finance Market Review (TFMR) for scaling a high-integrity transition finance market in support of UK and global net-zero ambitions, with a focus on the decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors.

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