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Converging, interconnected issues, including the changing finance landscape, have brought sustainable finance and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the fore as a unifying global agenda for countries, companies, investors and civil society to pursue. Following on from the Report by the High Level Expert Group, the European Commission Sustainable finance Action planand the High level conference in March, the EBRD, ACCA and Barclays organised a timely conference to discuss the Action Plan proposals, and the alignment of business strategies and corporate reporting contribution in meeting the SDGs and sustainable finance objectives.
Speakers highlighted that the Sustainable Finance Action Plan is an important milestone, which can help trigger further growth and recognition through clear signals. Access to better quality data, a common sustainability language – the taxonomy - and enhanced standards for transparency and accountability standards will improve the functioning of European markets for sustainable investments. But it was stressed that truly ensuring a rapid and well-managed transition to a low-carbon economy will require a broader overhaul of public policies, such as taxes and subsidies on energy, a ‘real’ carbon price integrating all externalities and incentives for industry to move their production and supply chains towards more sustainable models.
All actors - policy makers, regulators, supervisors, private sector and civil society - need to play their part. To make the economy greener and solve global challenges, the involvement and contribution of companies, which play a key role in the energy transition and reporting processes, is crucial.
Participants also heard that sustainability goes hand in hand with transparency. The European Union is working on a step by step process, building on existing initiatives such as the SDGs, national measures, existing non-financial reporting standards, existing voluntary industrytransparency and reportinginitiatives. Yet, the existing diversity of reporting frameworks can lead to complexity, affecting the coherence and comparability of data. The EC Action Plan item #9 and the EC Fitness Check on corporate reporting aim to address the issue. Some called for a flexible approach based on voluntary initiatives and experimentation, also promoting a good corporate governance culture, but there was also a clear call from others for more binding measures.