[FULL TEXT] Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability‐related disclosures in the financial services sector

Report analyses expected reporting & due diligence obligations in the financial sector across key EU regulatory measures on sustainability

Date:: 19 Jan 2023
Content Type:: Report

Briefing by Germanwatch and the sustainable finance think tank Climate & Company

EU Commission’s advisory group publishes the first set of sustainability reporting standards. NGOs warn against reduction in ambition

Date:: 23 Nov 2022
Content Type:: Article

Sustainability reporting experts and NGOs welcome the adoption of the EU sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) by EFRAG submitted this week to the European Commission. Whilst the ambition of the ESRS remains limited in several areas, they represent a major improvement for companies as well as for users of sustainability information and address the biggest problems in quality and reliability of corporate reporting.

EFRAG delivers the first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards to the EU Commission

Date:: 23 Nov 2022
Content Type:: Article

The European Commission will now consult EU bodies and Member States on the draft standards, before adopting the final standards as delegated acts in June 2023, followed by a scrutiny period by the European Parliament and Council.

EU: Platform on Sustainable Finance publishes Final Report on Minimum Safeguards

Date:: 28 Oct 2022
Content Type:: Article

This report advises on the application of minimum safeguards (MS) in relation to the Taxonomy Regulation.

EFRAG seeking applications for Community Sector Groups to support development of sector-specific draft reporting standards

Date:: 30 Sep 2022
Content Type:: Article

Deadline for applications 7 October

Frank Bold launches podcast discussing the latest developments in ESG, business & human rights and corporate reporting

Date:: 26 Sep 2022
Content Type:: Article

Host Richard Howitt speaks frankly and personally about what moves policy makers, businesses, and activists to make responsible business the norm and redefine business.

Danish Institute paper explores what 'big data' analysis of sustainability reporting can say about corporate respect for human rights

Date:: 29 Aug 2022
Content Type:: Article

This discussion paper describes the outcomes of a project developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights which aimed to use algorithm assisted analysis of a large number of company reports maintained in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Disclosure Database against a set of human rights indicators to supplement qualitative analysis of company reporting.

Updated report provides overview of various EU regulatory initiatives of relevance to business & human rights in force or under development by the EU

Date:: 8 Aug 2022
Content Type:: Report

Publication by the Danish Institute for Human Rights: "How do the pieces fit in the puzzle? Making sense of EU regulatory initiatives related to business and human rights"

EU Platform on Sustainable Finance seeks feedback on its draft report on Taxonomy Minimum Safeguards (extended deadline: 6 September)

Date:: 11 Jul 2022
Content Type:: Article

The Platform on Sustainable Finance seeks public feedback on its draft report on minimum safeguards. The minimum safeguards set out in Article 18 of the Taxonomy Regulation require that companies implement procedures to comply with OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises and the UN guiding principles on business and human rights.

EU: Parliament backs labelling gas and nuclear investments as 'green'

Date:: 6 Jul 2022
Content Type:: Article

The vote paves the way for the European Union proposal to pass into law, unless 20 of the bloc's 27 member states decide to oppose the move, which is seen as very unlikely.

EU: Friends of the Earth Japan submits petition signed by 20,353 people to EU Parliament, demanding for nuclear power to not be included in EU taxonomy

Date:: 10 Jun 2022
Content Type:: Article

The petition says “the inclusion of nuclear power in the EU Taxonomy and the EU giving its stamp on nuclear power as being green would not only undermine the credibility of the EU Taxonomy, but also leave a significant negative legacy for the future of the EU and the world.”

Expert workshops: European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) seeks input on preparation of draft sector-specific EU Sustainability Reporting Standards

Date:: 30 May 2022
Content Type:: Article

EFRAG is organising these workshops by webcast during June and July 2022; the application deadline for each workshop is 10 calendar days before the workshop takes place.

European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) seeks input on draft sector-wide EU Sustainability Reporting Standards (deadline: 8 August)

Date:: 29 Apr 2022
Content Type:: Article

EFRAG invites comments on all aspects of the Draft ESRS. Comments are expected no later than 8 August 2022.

92 civil society organizations call on financial institutions to avoid taxonomy-aligned greenwashing

Date:: 11 Mar 2022
Content Type:: Article

A month after the European Commission approved the inclusion of fossil gas and nuclear energy into the EU taxonomy, 92 NGOs and CSOs call on financial institutions to reject this greenwashing attempt by excluding both energies from their “sustainable” or “green” funds and bonds

EU: Platform on Sustainable Finance presents Social Taxonomy report; EU Commission to review recommendations aimed at helping investors define social sustainability

Date:: 2 Mar 2022
Content Type:: Article

The Platform on Sustainable Finance ("PSF") published its final report on extending social taxonomy rules. The Commission now needs to decide if and how to take forward the PSF's suggestions.

Press release: ShareAction welcomes Social Taxonomy report, calls on Commission to act swiftly

Date:: 2 Mar 2022
Content Type:: Article

ShareAction urges the European Commission to take swift action to develop this important missing piece of the EU taxonomy.

EU-Taxonomie: Waffenbranche will Nachhaltigkeitsstempel - Politik dagegen

Date:: 8 Feb 2022
Content Type:: Article

Available languages: Deutsch

EU stuft Atomkraft und Erdgas als nachhaltig ein

Date:: 2 Feb 2022
Content Type:: Article

Available languages: Deutsch

EU-Taxonomie droht viel Glaubwürdigkeit zu verlieren – Europaparlament ist nun gefordert

Date:: 2 Feb 2022
Content Type:: Article

Available languages: Deutsch

EU: WWF calls on the EU Parliament and Council to reject inclusion of gas & nuclear investments in taxonomy regulation

Date:: 2 Feb 2022
Content Type:: Article

WWF condemns inclusion of gas and nuclear investments in the recently published EU taxonomy, arguing it will do huge damage to the EU and global environmental action

Expertengruppe "Plattform für nachhaltige Finanzen" kritisiert Taxonomie-Entwurf der EU-Kommission

Date:: 24 Jan 2022
Content Type:: Article

Available languages: Deutsch

EU: 261 Japanese CSOs write to President von der Leyen urging not to include nuclear power in EU taxonomy

Date:: 12 Jan 2022
Content Type:: Article

Japanese CSOs working on environmental and energy issues and groups of people affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster say in the open letter that including nuclear power in the EU taxonomy would "undermine the credibility of the EU Taxonomy" and "leave a significant negative legacy for the future of the EU and the world."

EU: Concerns over inclusion of gas & nuclear investments in "sustainable finance taxonomy" rules

Date:: 10 Jan 2022
Content Type:: Article

The Commission's decision to include gas and nuclear investments in the European Union's "sustainable finance taxonomy" rules was circulated in a draft proposal late on Dec. 31 and leaked to some media organisations.

Germanwatch: EU droht durch „Greenwashing“ Glaubwürdigkeit bei Umsetzung des European Green Deal zu untergraben

Date:: 3 Jan 2022
Content Type:: Article

Available languages: Deutsch

EU adopts first ‘taxonomy’ list of sustainable sectors for investors

Date:: 9 Dec 2021
Content Type:: Article

Some EU governments had threatened they would block the first ‘taxonomy’ list if nuclear and gas were not included as ‘sustainable’ in the second list, which is expected to be proposed soon. In the end, 13 governments opposed it - 2 Member States short of the blocking threshold - and the proposal went through automatically.

Six organisations working on responsible investment issue joint statement on the EU Social Taxonomy

Date:: 2 Sep 2021
Content Type:: Article

Leading organisations sign a joint statement in support of a EU Social Taxonomy

Call for input: EU Platform on Sustainable Finance's draft report on a social taxonomy (extended deadline: 6 September)

Date:: 26 Aug 2021
Content Type:: Article

On 12 July 2021 the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance published two reports, including a draft report on a social taxonomy grounded in human rights. The Platform welcomes stakeholder feedback on both reports.

MEPs sign letter urging EFRAG for transparency & balanced representation of stakeholders

Date:: 15 Jul 2021
Content Type:: Article

A group of 7 MEPs signed a letter concerning EFRAG’s responsibility to ensure balanced representation of stakeholders in the work to provide technical advice on corporate sustainability standards

Commentary: The EU’s Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy largely fails to put words into action

Date:: 6 Jul 2021
Content Type:: Article

The WWF shows some of the weaknesses of three documents aimed at bringing the EU financial system more in line with the EU Green Deal

NGOs suspend participation in EU Sustainable Finance Platform over “unscientific” criteria for bioenergy & forestry in taxonomy

Date:: 26 Apr 2021
Content Type:: Article

The EU Commission’s taxonomy, unveiled on Wednesday, introduces a labelling system for investment that could divert hundreds of billions in funds to 'sustainable' industries and companies. Environmentalists say the taxonomy’s forestry criteria are too weak because they classify industrial logging and the burning of trees and crops for energy as ‘sustainable’ investments.

EU: NGOs welcome final recommendations of EFRAG’s Project Task Force to Commission on sustainability reporting standards

Date:: 9 Mar 2021
Content Type:: Article

The recommendations can successfully guide the EU standard-setting process, and significantly advance the quality of corporate sustainability transparency, says the Alliance for Corporate Transparency.

Reports on development of EU sustainability reporting standards

Date:: 8 Mar 2021
Content Type:: Article

The reports set out recommendations to the European Commission for the elaboration of possible EU sustainability reporting standards and for possible changes to EFRAG's governance and funding if it were to become the EU sustainability reporting standard setter.

EU Taxonomy: 130 organisations call for science-based green finance rules

Date:: 18 Dec 2020
Content Type:: Article

Ten areas range from fossil fuels, bioenergy and hydropower to livestock and hydrogen.

EU: Coalition of NGOs, shareholder associations & sustainable investment associations call for planned sustainable taxonomy to be “rooted in climate and environmental science”

Date:: 18 Dec 2020
Content Type:: Article

In response to a consultation on the draft delegated acts (DA) that provides much of the initial detail for the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Regulation, the 130-strong group said the current text “ignored or weakened the Technical Expert Group’s (TEG) scientific advice for several activities”.

Webinar explores synergies between EU sustainable finance, corporate disclosure and mandatory due diligence agendas

Date:: 24 Nov 2020
Content Type:: Article

EU Commission publishes draft rules to govern which economic sectors are considered environmentally sustainable under an EU taxonomy

Date:: 23 Nov 2020
Content Type:: Article

WWF welcomes the exclusion of fossil fuels from the draft rules, but criticises, among others, that the Commission’s proposal would allow the burning of trees to be considered ‘sustainable’.

EU Commission launches public consultation on first sets of screening criteria under sustainability taxonomy, triggering ‘environmental integrity’ warnings

Date:: 23 Nov 2020
Content Type:: Article

The criteria generally follow the recommendations from the technical expert group (TEG) that advised the Commission on its sustainable finance action plan, but deviate from them in some respects. Civil society has raised concerns that some of the thresholds deviated from scientific evidence as a result of political and industry pressure.

EU Commission launches public consultation on criteria defining environmentally sustainable activities (Deadline: 18 Dec)

Date:: 20 Nov 2020
Content Type:: Article

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the first two sets of criteria for determining which economic activities can qualify as environmentally sustainable, under the EU's Taxonomy.

European Supervisory Authorities consultation on ESG disclosures under EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (Deadline: 1 Sep)

Date:: 7 Jul 2020
Content Type:: Article

Sustainable Finance: Commission welcomes the adoption by the European Parliament of the Taxonomy Regulation

Date:: 18 Jun 2020
Content Type:: Article

EU Commission launches consultation on the renewed sustainable finance strategy (Deadline: 15 July 2020)

Date:: 14 Apr 2020
Content Type:: Article

EU says green finance will be 'key focus' of post-virus recovery phase

Date:: 9 Apr 2020
Content Type:: Article

EU reaches deal to define 'sustainable' investment

Date:: 17 Dec 2019
Content Type:: Article

New policy brief: EU Regulation on Investor Disclosure on sustainability risks and due diligence

Date:: 13 Dec 2019
Content Type:: Article