EurActiv: Capital markets need to start making sustainability mainstream

16 May 2019

The joint report by the OECD, the World Bank Group and the UN Environment Programme suggests that sustainable finance should become mainstream, but the market is still lagging far behind. This is why market players need to reboot the financial system and rethink old structures.

The idea is that investors need to be clear on which long-term strategy a company is pursuing with regard to climate protection. To achieve this at an EU level, for example, the current  European directive on non-financial reporting could be widened. 

The involvement of investors will become increasingly important in the coming years, as they will have to be more closely involved in the transformation of companies. Shareholders should not stand in the way of new approaches and sustainable innovation but should take responsibility and support the process.

Other cornerstones of the initiative launched by the OECD, the World Bank and the UN, includes planning a low-emission infrastructure, decoupling the public budget from fossil fuels, re-booting the financial system, including climate risks and opportunities, rethinking development financing for climate protection, and urban planning for resilient and low-emission societies.

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