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Sustainable Finance: Commission welcomes the advice by the Platform on Sustainable Finance on financing the transition
The European Commission has welcomed today the advice on financing the transition provided by the Platform on Sustainable Finance. The Commission will consider the advice when finalising the draft delegated act on climate mitigation and climate adaptation, in the context of the Taxonomy Regulation, and when preparing its Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy and other sustainable-finance related initiatives.
This input by the Platform comes at the request by the Commission, made in January 2021, to provide further input on how the Taxonomy framework, and the existing sustainable finance framework more broadly, can facilitate all companies in their transition towards improving their environmental performance.
In particular, the Commission considered that it was important to seek the Platform's advice on a number of questions raised in the feedback received during a four-week public consultation, which gathered 46591 answers. In its advice provided today, the Platform provides recommendations on how to strengthen the potential of transition financing through the Taxonomy criteria.
The Platform also highlights the importance of bank lending for the transition towards a green economy and the need to ensure that the forthcoming reporting and disclosure standards are coherent, pragmatic and enable all market participants, from corporates to SMEs, to access the green finance for the transition.
Overall, the Platform underlines the importance of the EU Taxonomy to identify the investments that are much needed to reach the Green Deal goals, and its role as a tool for companies to plan and finance transition investments to reach the Green Deal and climate targets.
The EU has set climate and energy targets for 2030, and aims to be climate-neutral by 2050. The Commission remains committed to continue working towards creating a common language that investors can use everywhere when investing in projects and economic activities that have a substantial positive impact on the climate and the environment. The full text of the advice is available here.
Dialogue and close cooperation among a wide range of stakeholders from the public and private sector will be crucial to deliver on the aims of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and ultimately of the European Green Deal and the EU climate targets for 2030 and 2050.
The Platform on Sustainable Finance plays a key role in enabling such cooperation by bringing together the best expertise on sustainability from the corporate and public sector, from industry as well as academia, civil society and the financial industry join forces.
As a permanent expert group of the European Commission that has been established under Article 20 of the Taxonomy Regulation, the Platform will assist the Commission in developing its sustainable finance policies, notably the further development of the EU taxonomy.
In the following video you can watch an interview between Martin Špolc – Head of Unit Sustainable finance, Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA) – and Nathan Fabian – Chair of the Platform on sustainable finance.
The first inaugural meeting of the Platform was held on 15 and 16 October 2020.
Commissioner McGuinness and Commissioner Sinkevičius addressed the new members and observers of the Platform and expressed their strong support for the Platform’s mandate. The Commissioners noted that the Platform will advise the Commission at a crucial time when we need to further increase our ambition to achieve our objectives of the European Green Deal as well as realising a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
What the platform does
The platform is an advisory body subject to the Commission’s horizontal rules for expert groups. Its main purpose is to advise the European Commission on several tasks and topics related to further developing the EU taxonomy and support the Commission in the technical preparation of delegated acts, in order to implement the EU taxonomy.
Based on the mandate of the Platform in Article 20 Taxonomy Regulation, the members and observers started work on four main tasks to deliver key deliverables
- Advise the Commission on the technical screening criteria for the EU taxonomy, including on the usability of the criteria
- Advise the Commission on the review of the Taxonomy Regulation and on covering other sustainability objectives, including social objectives and activities that significantly harm the environment
- Monitor and report on capital flows towards sustainable investments
- Advise the Commission on sustainable finance policy more broadly
How the Platform is organised
The Platform has, in principle, an unlimited duration, taking into account the different tasks provided for in the Taxonomy Regulation and the need to amend the technical screening criteria of the EU taxonomy over time, in order to reflect, for instance, changing EU environmental legislation or technological developments.
It operates through a plenary in full composition of all 57 members and 10 observers, supported by subgroups where the technical work on its opinions, reports or recommendations takes place. The plenary serves as a forum to ensure that appropriate linkages are created between the relevant subgroups and to formally endorse advice and reports of the Platform.
The Platform is chaired by a Chairperson. The Commission has decided to appoint Mr Nathan Fabian, Chief Responsible Investment Officer, from Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), as Chairperson of the Platform.
For an overview of the organisational set-up of the Platform as of December 2020, see the organigramme below. You can click on the organigramme to download it.
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