Speakers
Objectives of the session
Beside the objective to better manage financial risks stemming from climate change, environmental degradation and social issues, the European Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth adopted in March 2018, seeks notably to facilitate the channelling of financial resources towards sustainable investment, and to foster transparency and long-termism in financial and economic activity. In this context various proposals are being tailored notably regarding an EU taxonomy and low carbon and positive carbon impact indices.
This session seeks to describe the actual achievements of the European Action Plan before the current EU legislature ends and to discuss the issues that these regulatory developments raise in order to identify possible ways forward and priorities for the forthcoming Commission.
Points of discussion
What are by the end of the legislature, the expected achievements of the European Action Plan on Sustainable Finance and related added value? What are the main challenges these achievements raise?
What are the main issues raised by the proposed EU sustainability taxonomy? Is the envisaged taxonomy effectively providing greater clarity for the markets? Is it flexible enough to take into account the evolution of technology and to avoid possible bureaucratic burdens? Is the taxonomy providing sufficient incentives to head toward sustainability adaptation? Are there any consistency issues globally?
What are the main challenges to be addressed in order to define efficient low carbon and positive carbon impact indices? Are forthcoming low carbon and positive carbon impact indices able to reduce significantly existing green washing risk? Will market participants be able to innovate and develop the market for these benchmarks? Will the envisaged adoption path be smooth enough? Would low carbon impact and positive carbon impact benchmark designation be optional or mandatory and would it allow a swift adaptation to technological evolutions?