10 October 2023

Commissioner McGuinness at DG FISMA event, The Sustainability Finance Disclosure Regulation - what next?

So more than five years on, I think we've done well overall. We today have in place the core building blocks of the EU sustainable finance framework. Including the Taxonomy, different disclosures, benchmarks and the European Green Bond Standard..

And it's a good sign around the whole sustainable finance agenda that we have huge interest in the topic we're discussing.

What I'll do today are maybe three things: have a look overall on where we are on sustainable finance, then a look at where the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation fits in, and really that's the core of our discussions here today, to bring forward our agenda.

You know that sustainable finance is here. I think it will remain very important.

And yes, alongside our work on sustainable finance, we know that globally there are huge tensions, many issues including recent conflicts, particularly the illegal conflict in Ukraine, and of course events over the weekend, where we see many tensions globally.

And of course then internally in Europe and elsewhere, many people are struggling to actually just make ends meet.

And these are big topics, and it's right that we focus on them.

But we also need to have a discussion and to continue our work around climate change and addressing it.

In many ways, the challenges I've mentioned make our action on climate much more urgent.

If we look to our target of expanding renewables, this will help us reduce and indeed end our dependence on imported fossil fuels, including from Russia.

Supporting energy efficiency and better insulated homes and businesses can help citizens and companies lower their energy bills.

But of course all of us know that tackling climate change is an enormous challenge.

It does need all sections of society and the economy to work together and play their part.

And it needs much more public money, because private money need to be directed towards our climate goals.

That's where sustainable finance comes in.

It's there to help the financial sector invest in sustainability – and also to help the financial sector itself become more sustainable.

Back in 2018, the European Union launched its first Action Plan on sustainable finance.

And we set out to do something that was completely new.

We had no examples to work from or indeed no blueprints that we could be inspired by.

So more than five years on, I think we've done well overall.

We today have in place the core building blocks of the EU sustainable finance framework.

Including the Taxonomy, different disclosures, benchmarks and the European Green Bond Standard....

 more at Commission

© European Commission