New transparency rules a ‘gamechanger’ for European green finance

(Transport and Environment, 23 Nov 2022) EU commission expert group recommends ambitious sustainability reporting standards to fight greenwashing.

New mandatory reporting of environmental and social performance for all companies would be a ‘gamechanger’ for green finance in Europe, says Transport & Environment (T&E), a member of the EU’s official expert group [1]. T&E, along with other NGOs, has called on the European Commission not to cave into industry lobbyists who will try to water down a bill that will bring long overdue transparency.

EU sustainability reporting standards (ESRS), which have been proposed by the European Commission’s expert group at EFRAG and are currently under negotiation, will provide a common European framework for corporate reporting on a number of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics.

The introduction of mandatory Scope 3 reporting (lifetime emissions) in particular will have a significant impact in areas of the economy such as transport. Unlike a piece of furniture or a mobile phone, more than 90% of the emissions from a plane or a ship come mostly in their use and not their manufacture, and are rarely accounted for.

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Transport and Environment, 23 Nov 2022: New transparency rules a ‘gamechanger’ for European green finance