EU expert group drives sustainable finance’s mainstreaming two steps ahead

(EurActiv, 18 Jun 2019) European sustainable finance got an additional boost on Tuesday (18 June), following the release of three reports by the Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance (TEG) focusing on taxonomy, green bonds standards and climate benchmarks.

The three reports, a key part of an EU Action Plan on Sustainable Finance, will become the basis for the development of new regulatory frameworks for the financial sector. The European Commission also published a new guideline on corporate climate-related information reporting for large listed European companies.

The Technical Expert Group on sustainable finance was set up by the European Commission in June 2018 and is comprised of 35 members and four observers from civil society, academia, business, and the finance sector. It also includes additional members and observers from EU and international public bodies. The work of the TEG has been officially extended until the end of 2019.

The reports are to enable the European Union to attract an additional 175 to 290 billion euros a year of private investment to finance the transition to a low-carbon economy, an investment public money cannot cover.

The three reports are interlinked and aim to bring harmonisation and cohesion to a still widely fragmented European market, as well as increase transparency, credibility and usability of sustainable financial tools, market observers point out.

“The goal is to cover the whole economy, not just the dark green niche,” said Alyssa Heath, a senior policy analyst at Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), who has been engaged in developing the report.

“Now we are at a stage where we encourage investors to see what this working model of the taxonomy means for them,” she added.

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EurActiv, 18 Jun 2019: EU expert group drives sustainable finance’s mainstreaming two steps ahead