TO GET to grips with inflation and to ensure Britain’s long-term financial stability, the Bank of England must do better in addressing environmental risks, campaigners have said.

The central bank is being urged to take a series of actions including developing more technical expertise on climate and nature-related risks to the economy in a paper by wildlife charity WWF.

As Britain imports a significant amount of its fruit, vegetables, meat and fish, climate change is increasingly disrupting food supplies, in turn driving up price inflation and the overall cost of living.

The report published today argues that the Bank of England is falling behind other central banks in managing environmental threats and can better align with and support the transition to a net-zero, nature-positive economy.

WWF chief economist Karen Ellis said: “There is so much more they could and should be doing.

“The financial sector has a huge impact on climate change, which is leading to growing economic pressures in the UK, like food price rises and making properties uninsurable due to increasing flood risk.

“As one of the most powerful bodies tasked with regulating this sector, the Bank of England’s actions matter for climate and nature and, frankly, the Bank of England and their well-resourced team must do more.”

WWF is calling on the bank to improve its analysis of the impacts of climate change and nature loss on the economy and communicate these findings widely to policymakers, politicians and the public.

The charity said it should also align its own policymaking with an orderly transition, drawing on examples of best practice from other central banks around the world, while also developing its own innovative proposals.

The Bank of England has been approached for comment.