EC Vice President on Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets Union
The EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis spoke, at the European Parliament, about sustainable finance as a dimension of the Capital Markets Union project. While talking about implications of climate change, he discussed the importance of the Paris agreement and the need for clean energy, also highlighting that the EU is already at the forefront of integrating sustainability in financial regulation.
The EC Vice President expressed regret about the decision of the Trump Administration to withdraw from the Paris agreement. However, he said that the Paris agreement will not be reversed. As of next year, large companies listed in EU markets will be required to disclose relevant information on environmental, governance, social, and human rights aspects of their business activities. "Here we are also following the work of the Financial Stability Board on climate-related financial disclosures. So we took their recommendations into account as much as possible in our guidelines on non-financial reporting, which we will adopt at the end of this month," said the EC Vice President.
He also emphasized that its key project of the Capital Markets Union also has a strong sustainability dimension. "Over the past 20 months, we have delivered more than half (20/33) of the measures announced in our Action Plan, which will help free up funding for businesses in all stages of their development, to fuel innovation and growth, " said Mr. Dombrovskis. He also mentioned that the mid-term review of the Capital Markets Union proposes some new examples of work that needs to be delivered: "We need to be consistent throughout the investment chain in integrating green and sustainability considerations, for example by clarifying fiduciary duties of asset owners and asset managers. We will need to look at rating methodologies, as well as the investment mandates of institutional investors and asset managers. Above all, we are proposing to evaluate sustainability considerations systematically as part of upcoming reviews of financial legislation."
Related Link: Speech
Keywords: Europe, EC, Securities, Sustainable Finance, Capital Markets Union
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