(22 April 2021) – The European Commission has adopted a package of measures to help improve the flow of money towards sustainable activities across the EU.
By enabling investors to re-orient investments towards more sustainable technologies and businesses, today’s measures will be instrumental in making Europe climate neutral by 2050.
According to the Commission, they will make the EU a global leader in setting standards for sustainable finance.
The package is comprised of: 1)The EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act aims to support sustainable investment by making it clearer which economic activities most contribute to meeting the EU’s environmental objectives; 2) A proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to improve the flow of sustainability information in the corporate world; and 3) six amending Delegated Acts on fiduciary duties, investment and insurance advice.
It should be noted that shortly after the announcement of these measures,the WWF and several other NGOs have decided to suspend their participation in the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Platform in protest against what they see as weak and “unscientific” criteria for bioenergy and forestry in the EU’s green finance taxonomy.