Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, has urged young people to put their money into investments focused on sustainability amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Younger generations, he said, were likely to be the ones to experience a shift or "adjustment" toward sustainability, and so should be the ones to benefit from it.
"At some point that adjustment is going to happen … as a younger person, who is going to be around for that adjustment and needs to benefit — I would want to be positioned for that," he said.
While Carney said he believed there was "a fair bit of momentum in society" already in terms of moving to a greater sustainability, he said this was likely to be reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's not assured — but it's likely it's going to be reinforced by the experience we've just lived through," he added.
Carney was speaking at the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association's "Virtual Fest," on Wednesday, and discussed how the financial services sector could help the U.K. meet its climate-change goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The former head of England's central bank said there was a "sweet spot" of opportunities for U.K. government investment in areas such as infrastructure, which creates jobs and has "big multiplier effects on the economy."
For instance, last week the U.K. government approved plans to develop the country's largest solar park in the south of England, which will have the capacity to power 91,000 homes.
Meanwhile in May, it announced that £2 billion ($2.5 billion) would be spent on initiatives to encourage people to walk and cycle more. This is part of an effort to encourage "greener travel habits" as an alternative to crowded public transport in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. This included bringing forward trials of rental electric scooters.
Carney stepped down as governor of the Bank of England in March, after around seven years in the role. He was replaced by the head of the U.K.'s financial watchdog, Andrew Bailey.
He is now the United Nations' special envoy for climate change.
— CNBC's Anmar Frangoul contributed to this article.
