In 2018 the EU Commission published the “Action Plan on Sustainable Finance”. Since then, everyone has been talking about Sustainable Finance or ESG.
ESG is an English acronym, stands for "Environment, Social and Governance" and as an umbrella term means the consideration of sustainability goals in capital investments: in ecological terms, in social terms and with regard to (good) corporate governance. For example, "E" generally stands for the conservation of resources, environmentally friendly production, reduction of greenhouse gases, eco-efficiency with regard to energy, water, carbon dioxide and waste, energy management, investment in renewable energies etc., "S" for example for the observance of central labor rights, fair conditions at the workplace, occupational health and safety (also with suppliers), equal opportunities and diversity, prevention of exploitation and discrimination, freedom of assembly and trade unions etc., and "G" stands exemplarily for transparency in corporate governance and external communication, for the anchoring of sustainability management at the executive and supervisory board level and ESG risk management, the prevention of corruption, bribery and money laundering, for regulatory compliance and the avoidance of conflicts of interest.
With the "Action Plan on Sustainable Finance" the EU Commission has launched an extremely voluminous legislative initiative. The Action Plan comprises ten (legislative) measures which are intended to contribute to the achievement of three objectives, as visualized in the graph below:
- The re-orientation of private capital flows towards sustainable investments (measures 1-5; dark blue)
- The fostering of transparency and long-termism in markets (measures 6-8; dark grey)
- The embedding of sustainability risk into risk management (measures 9-10, red).
The Action Plan includes a wide range of initiatives such as
- The taxonomy regulation to create a uniform classification system for sustainable activities
- The Sustainable Finance Reporting Regulation (SFDR), the so-called Disclosure Regulation, to create consistent disclosure requirements with regard to sustainability
- A CO2 benchmark regulation to provide standardized sustainability benchmarks
- New secondary legislation or "delegated acts" to integrate sustainability risks and factors into the UCITS Directives and the AIFMD framework, i.e. for the entire fund industry
- New delegated acts to integrate sustainability risks and factors into the MiFID II and IDD frameworks (including the integration of sustainability considerations into financial advice)
- The development of a standard for Green Bonds
- The development of an EU eco-label for financial products (EU Ecolabel)
- Updating the non-financial reporting of companies as part of a review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD).
Of the entire legislative package of the Sustainable Finance Initiative, measures #1 (Taxonomy Regulation), #2 (standards and labels for environmentally friendly financial products/green financial products), #4 (incorporating sustainability as part of financial advice), #6 (developing sustainability benchmarks and better integrating sustainability into ratings), #7 strengthening the disclosure made by asset managers and financial advisors to their clients, including the Disclosure Regulation) and #9 (strengthening the rules on disclosure of sustainability information and accounting) are the most relevant and important legislative acts for funds and their management companies.
In unserem Investor Survey 2022 haben wir uns in einem eigenen Kapitel dem Thema Sustainable Finance und ESG gewidmet. Die Ergebnisse haben wir in einem kurzen Video zusammengetragen und analysiert.
Legal basis
Sustainable finance package | European Commission (europa.eu)
Taxonomy (Regulation (EU) 2020/852)
EU Taxonomy Compass | European Commission (europa.eu)
Technical annex to the final report of the Taxonomy
EU Commission’s website on the Taxonomy
FAQ of the EU Commission on the Taxonomy and the EU Green Bond Standard
FAQ of the EU Commission on disclosures under Article 8 of the Taxonomy
EU Platform's recommendations on Data and Usability of the Taxonomy
EU Platform's Final Report on Minimum Safeguards
Disclosure Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/2088)
Disclosure Regulation as amended (consolidated version)
ESAs' consultation paper on the RTS on the disclosure regulation
Draft Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation 2017/565/EU (MiFID II)
Draft Delegated Directive amending Delegated Regulation 2017/593/EU (MiFID II)
Draft Delegated Directive amending Directive 2010/43/EU (so-called UCITS Implementing Directive)
Draft Delegated Regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) No 231/2013 (AIFMD Level II Regulation)
Draft Delegated Regulation amending the Delegated Regulations on the Insurance Distribution Directive IDD (EU) No 2017/2358 (as regards the prudential and regulatory requirements for insurance undertakings and insurance distributors) and 2017/2359 (as regards information requirements and conduct of business rules applicable to the distribution of insurance investment products)
Draft Delegated Regulation amending the Delegated Regulation on Solvency II (Solvency Level II Regulation (EU) 2015/35)
Regulation (EU) No 2019/2089 amending the Benchmark Regulation (EU) No 2016/1011
Three Delegated Regulations to complement the Benchmark Regulation
Information on the EU Green Bond Standard
Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD)
ESMA Final Report on undue short-term pressure on corporations
BaFin’s Guidance Notice on Dealing with Sustainability Risks
EMSA Final Report on Guidelines of the MIFID II suitability requirements regarding sustainability
ESMA's Implementation timeline for Sustainable Finance Regulation
Offenlegungsverordnung/SFDR
BAI Best Practices for Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) Indicators under SFDR :
Annex "BAI PAI KPI Real Estate"
Annex "BAI PAI KPI Infrastructure"
Q&As on the Delegated Regulation on the SFDR relating to PAIs
ESAs (November 2022)
Fragen und Antworten zur Auslegung der Q&As der Kommission zur Offenlegungsverordnung
BaFin (September 2022)
First Joint ESAs' report on the extent of voluntary discolure of PAI under the SFDR
ESAs (July 2022)
To PAI or not to PAI, that is the question! | LinkedIn
SOF(Juni 2021)
SFDR - Are you ready?
DLA Piper, (16. February 2021)
SFDR implementation timeline
DLA Piper (17. May 2021)
Further information
Documents/contributions
Hier geht es zum Themenschwerpunkt der Verbandsarbeit: Oktober 2020 - ESG
Hier geht es zu den Unterlagen und Aufzeichnungen der folgenden Webinaren:
- "ESG-Management: Aktuelle Herausforderungen in der Praxis und Vorteile einer digitalen Umsetzung“ am 28. Mai 2020
- "A practical guide to improving your ESG management" am 23. März 2020
- "Impact Management und Messung im Bereich Real Assets" am 6. Februar 2020
- "Responsible investments: how to select, implement and monitor Social and Governance aspects in the investment process" am 3. Februar 2020
Hier geht es zum Workshop zu ESG/Sustainable Finance am 26. September 2019
ESG im Asset Management –wie nachhaltiges Investieren Branche und Portfolio verändert
BAI-Vortragsfolien im Rahmen der Investmentsfondstage 2018
Bei Interessen an den Workshop- bzw. Insight-Unterlagen kontaktieren Sie bitte Roland Brooks (brooks@bvai.de).