Sustainable Finance: Commission welcomes the advice by the Platform on Sustainable Finance on financing the transition

The European Commission has welcomed today the advice on financing the transition provided by the Platform on Sustainable Finance. The Commission will consider the advice when finalising the draft delegated act on climate mitigation and climate adaptation, in the context of the Taxonomy Regulation, and when preparing its Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy and other sustainable-finance related initiatives. This input by the Platform comes at the request by the Commission, made in January 2021, to provide further input on how the Taxonomy framework, and the existing sustainable finance framework more broadly, can facilitate all companies in their transition towards improving their environmental performance. In particular, the Commission considered that it was important to seek the Platform’s advice on a number of questions raised in the feedback received during a four-week public consultation, which gathered 46591 answers. In its advice provided today, the Platform provides recommendations on how to strengthen the potential of transition financing through the Taxonomy criteria. The Platform also highlights the importance of bank lending for the transition towards a green economy and the need to ensure that the forthcoming reporting and disclosure standards are coherent, pragmatic and enable all market participants, from corporates to SMEs, to access the green finance for the transition. Overall, the Platform underlines the importance of the EU Taxonomy to identify the investments that are much needed to reach the Green Deal goals, and its role as a tool for companies to plan and finance transition investments to reach the Green Deal and climate targets. The EU has set climate and energy targets for 2030, and aims to be climate-neutral by 2050. The Commission remains committed to continue working towards creating a common language that investors can use everywhere when investing in projects and economic activities that have a substantial positive impact on the climate and the environment. The full text of the advice is available here.