The UK and China are central to the global transition to a low-carbon economy. China dominates global green industrial capacity, while the UK is a global leader in transition planning. However, both face a common challenge: mobilising capital at the scale required for decarbonisation.
China now accounts for more than 60% of global renewable energy additions [note1] and over 70% of electric vehicle production [note2], underscoring its role as the world’s green industrial powerhouse. Meanwhile, the UK has emerged as a global leader in transition planning, with nearly all large listed firms now reporting emissions and more than 80% having published transition plans [note3].
A new report, produced in collaboration with LSEG, HSBC and the Institute for Finance and Sustainability under the UK-China Green Finance Taskforce, explores how both countries are advancing transition planning, climate disclosure, and green and transition finance. While their approaches differ, their systems are showing increasing alignment, creating a significant opportunity to scale capital for decarbonisation.
Why this matters
Although the UK and China have both recently set more ambitious climate targets in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the challenge now is delivery: turning transition plans into consistent corporate disclosures, credible strategies, and real financing flows.
While progress has been rapid, a gap remains between targets, transition plans and the capital required to deliver them. The report focuses on that gap, highlighting where closer UK-China collaboration could help mobilise the investment needed to scale economy-wide decarbonisation.
Key findings
China is the world’s green industrial powerhouse.
The UK leads on transition planning and disclosure.
More than half of UK listed companies now publish transition plans (54% of more than 450 FTSE All-Share firms) [note6], signalling how quickly transition planning has moved into the mainstream of corporate strategy.
China is catching up fast on corporate disclosures, but detailed transition planning remains the gap.
Capital is growing, but not yet at the pace required.
The global green economy now exceeds US$10 trillion in market capitalisation [note9], yet trillions more will be needed to decarbonise existing assets, especially in hard-to-abate sectors.
Opportunities for UK-China collaboration on financing the climate transition
- Align UK-China disclosure frameworks to improve interoperability and enable cross-border green and transition finance.
- Scale up corporate transition planning and link it more clearly to national climate targets.
- Strengthen climate data quality, comparability and institutional capabilities to support better investment decisions and risk assessment.
- Broaden green and transition finance markets across asset classes to mobilise broader pools of capital.
- Boost incentives and collaboration to accelerate investment, especially in hard-to-abate sectors.
footnotes
[1] IEA, Global Energy Review 2026 [IEA] | Back to Note 1
[2] IEA, Global EV Outlook 2025 [IEA] | Back to Note 2
[3] LSEG data applied to the FTSE 100 Index, 2026 | Back to Note 3
[4] IEA, Global Energy Review 2026 [IEA] | Back to Note 4
[5] IEA, Global EV Outlook 2025 [IEA] | Back to Note 5
[6] LSEG transition plan data applied to the FTSE All-Share Index, 2026. | Back to Note 6
[7] LSEG data applied to the China A Index, 2026 | Back to Note 7
[8]LSEG transition data applied to the China A50 Index, 2026 | Back to Note 8
[9] Investing in the green economy 2026: Resilience and reacceleration – LSEG, June 2026 | Back to Note 9
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