The Bank of England has published the 2026 update to its Climate Transition Plan, the plan's second edition, alongside its 2026 climate-related financial disclosure, setting out how the central bank intends to meet its net-zero operational target and how it is embedding climate risk across its balance sheet. The Bank said the publications together demonstrate its commitment to transparent, evidence-based management of climate-related risks.
The disclosure covers the Bank's own operations, its financial exposures and the portfolios held for monetary policy purposes. The Bank said it had met its first interim decarbonisation milestone, with emissions from physical operations down 43% since 2015/16 against a targeted 40% reduction.
TRANSITION PLAN SETS PATHWAY TO NET ZERO
The updated Climate Transition Plan reports progress against the decarbonisation trajectory set out in the inaugural 2023 plan and restates the Bank's baseline, historical emissions, interim milestones and 2040 target after a move to a new carbon accounting platform; the Bank said its governance architecture for climate-related matters is unchanged. Interim milestones are reductions of 62% by 2030 and 84% by 2035 against the 2015/16 baseline; the Bank said achieving them carries some delivery risk, but that the long-term 2040 trajectory remains on track.
The plan covers the Bank's physical operations and targets net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from them by 2040; climate risks to the balance sheet, including assets held for policy purposes, are covered in the accompanying disclosure.
DISCLOSURE COVERS POLICY PORTFOLIOS The 2026 climate-related financial disclosure, for the year to 28 February 2026, covers the Bank's operations, its financial exposures and the portfolios held for monetary policy purposes, including GBP 382.1 billion of Asset Purchase Facility gilt holdings.
The disclosure sets out data on emissions from the Bank's own activities and on the climate characteristics of its financial holdings, along with information on how climate risks are identified, assessed and managed within its governance framework.
The report also sets out climate metrics for the Bank's asset holdings and emissions from its physical operations, which were 35,306 tCO2e in 2025/26.
In her message introducing the disclosure, chief operating officer Sarah John said the Bank had further integrated climate considerations across its functions over the past year, including strengthening supervisory expectations for firms' management of climate risks.
She said the Bank had also continued to develop its analytical toolkit to assess climate risks to its balance sheet, while recognising the uncertainties inherent in these assessments.