“Ethical Markets as a signatory member of PRI is happy to recommend this report, which conforms with our views as well as those expressed in the new book “Can Finance Save The World?” (2018) by Bertrand Badré, with a Foreword by French President Emmanuel Macron. ~Hazel Henderson, Editor”
High-Level Expert Group publishes final report
In December 2016, the European Commission established the EU High-Level Group on Sustainable Finance (HLEG) to help develop an overarching and comprehensive EU roadmap on sustainable finance. The PRI was delighted to contribute to HLEG as an international observer.
The group’s final report was published today and can be downloaded here.
The group was chaired by Axa’s Christian Thimann and has the support of Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission Vice President for Financial Stability, Financial Service and the Capital Markets Union and Jyrki Katainen, Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness.
The report makes a series of recommendations to improve the contribution of the financial system to sustainable and inclusive growth. The priority recommendations are:
1. Establish and maintain a common sustainability taxonomy at the EU level
2. Clarify investor duties to better embrace long-term horizon and sustainability preferences
3. Upgrade disclosure rules to make sustainability risks fully transparent, starting with climate
change
4. Key elements of a retail strategy on sustainable finance: investment advice, ecolabel and SRI
minimum standards
5. Develop and implement official European sustainability standards and labels, starting with
green bonds
6. Establish ‘Sustainable Infrastructure Europe’
7. Governance and Leadership
8. Include sustainability in the supervisory mandate of the ESAs and extend the horizon of risk
monitoring
The PRI will be working with signatories and the European Commission, Parliament and Council to support the implementation of the Group’s recommendations. We invite signatories to take the following steps:
• Look out for the PRI’s upcoming webinar to explain the report – more details to follow
• Subscribe to the PRI’s monthly policy newsletter to keep informed
• Join one of the PRI’s sustainable financial system projects
Best wishes,
