The European Commission has released guidelines for corporate bodies on reporting their impact on climate change and the environment.
The guidelines, which fall under the Commission’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan, are designed to support the private financial sector in contributing to a climate neutral economy. They apply to around 6,000 companies across the EU, which are compelled by the EU’s sustainability reporting rules to issue regular updates on both the impact their business activities have on the climate and the strategies in place to mitigate that impact.
Valdis Dombrovskis, the Commission’s Vice President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, said: “The climate emergency leaves us with no choice but transit to a climate neutral economy model. Today’s new guidelines will help companies to disclose the impact of…climate change on their business as well as the impact of their activities on climate and therefore enable investors make more informed investment decisions. I also welcome the three reports by the Technical Expert Group, which are an important contribution to European policy-making and global debate on green finance.”
The Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, made up of experts from business and finance, academia, civil society, the public sector and EU representatives, has concurrently released three significant reports on sustainable finance:
- A taxonomy for sustainable economic behaviours, acting as an effective cost-benefit analysis for policymakers and industry bodies of the economic activities businesses can undertake to reduce their environmental impact;
- A set of recommended criteria to ensure optimum results when issuing EU Green Bonds; and
- A report outlining the recommended methodology for establishing an effective and coherent sustainable investment strategy, while minimising the risk of ‘greenwashing’ – this report included the disclosure requirements for environmental, social and governance factors.
On 24 June the Commission will host a dialogue for stakeholders to discuss the Technical Expert Group’s reports and sustainable finance reporting strategies.
