As of April, 2023
Context
In 2015, the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris agreement marked a significant shift in global attitudes towards climate change and sustainability.
On March 8, 2018, the European Commission published a first Sustainable Finance Action Plan to channel more funding to environmentally sustainable economic activities, particularly towards activities that can play a critical role in reaching a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient economy by 2050.
Sustainable finance: a renewed strategy for the European Commission
In July 2021, the Commission published its renewed sustainable finance strategy, which particularly focuses on:
- Financing economic activities that further the transition to sustainable objectives
- Improving the financial sector’s resilience to sustainable risks
- Examining the desirability of a social taxonomy and improving opportunities for SMEs and individuals to access sustainable finance
2023 Updates
In 2023, the European Commission is expected to clarify some concepts introduced by the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), such as sustainable investment, and to publish a consultation on the review of SFDR.
The Corporate sustainability due diligence directive will be adopted as well as the delegated acts specifying the EU sustainability reporting standards.
The EU Taxonomy will be complemented by the adoption by the European Commission of delegated acts defining four list of environmental sustainable economic activities for pollution prevention, transition to a circular economy, protection of water resources, and healthy ecosystems.
