European Commission's EU Taxonomy factsheet, EU Parliament election impact, and CEE Sustainability Leaders announced

Last week, the European Commission - EU Economy and Finance published a factsheet with updated numbers about the EU Taxonomy uptake and use on the ground. The numbers are very encouraging, especially considering that CSRD disclosures and data availability will increase as the end of the year approaches.

It is interesting to see that there are first indications that the market performance of companies that have EU Taxonomy alignment are performing very well. This can also be a sign that the market sees Taxonomy alignment as a "gold standard" of credible sustainability reporting.

European Parliament election - what to expect from the new European Commission?

After the European Parliament elections, we have seen a flurry of opinion pieces and articles about what the election results mean. Below we have collected a few of the most interesting/useful pieces. To get up to date insights, follow Europe as a Task taking place in Prague this week - high level speakers will dive into discussions about the future of the EU, what to expect from the new European Commission, and much more.

• Carbon Brief - Experts: What do the European elections mean for EU climate action?
• Financial Times - Europe’s green backlash: Rightwing advances in EU parliament elections will lessen climate ambitions
• POLITICO - A triumphant right's first post-election target: Overturning Green Deal car ban
• Europe veers right but centre-ground resists: What the EU election results mean and what's next
• Le Monde - European elections: Despite poor results, the Greens hope to influence EU agenda

Prague hosts the 2024 CEE Sustainable Finance Summit

CEE Sustainable Finance Summit took place in Prague from May 27th to 29th.

The opening keynote was delivered by the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) , Kyriacos Kakouris Kakouris, and the Managing Director for Central Europe and Ireland at 花旗 , Munir Nanji . Attendees also had the opportunity to hear keynote presentations from Irene Heemskerk from European Central Bank , Nathan Fabian from Principles for Responsible Investment , Maxfield Weiss from CDP Europe, and Jenny Bofinger-Schuster from International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and Sean Kidney from Climate Bonds Initiative .

You can explore some of the sessions below, most of which act as deep dives on the different topics:

CEE Sustainable Finance Summit - opening session: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200527887991533569

EU Taxonomy: gold standard for sustainability or a regulatory burden? https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200529759598977024/

Green fixed income? Renewable energy markets, and 20 years of EU for CEE: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200614561333280770/

ESG risk in banking, Green Asset Ratio, materiality assessment & CSRD: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200975544765554688/

From ESG risk in banking, to supervision & SREP to decarbonisation of CEE: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200982146885320704

Climate risk in banking & green debt instruments –good financing solutions? https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200977259153813504/

CSRD and ESRS – lessons from implementation and early practices: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7201463369453776896/

Updates from ISSB, Real Estate, taxonomy & sustainability in practice: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7201493118053957632

Inevitable Policy Response, Degrowth & Future of investing: ESG in practice: https://www.dhirubhai.net/events/7200531060214906880/

CEE Sustainability Leadership Award winners

The very first edition of CEE Sustainability Leadership awards was held on 27 May at the residence of the Mayor of Prague, with a welcome speech by Mr Petr Hlavá?ek.

There were many nominations across the five categories, and after the initial scoring and evaluation, a shortlist of three candidates per category were scored by the jury. The winners are listed below, and we congratulate their fantastic work on sustainability promotion and integration!

CEE Sustainability Leader: Martin Hojsik - for his ongoing passionate work in promoting sustainability and championing environmentally friendly policies, including

CEE Leader in Sustainable Investing: Magdalena Radova from Tilia Impact Ventures for her unrivalled work in the development of methodology for impact measurement and for the promotion of impact investing across the CEE region.

CEE Leader in Sustainable Banking: Eva Bucova from ING , for her tireless effort in promoting sustainable finance, showing how it's done in practice for SMEs, and her support for the wider ecosystem of change makers.

CEE Leader in Sustainable Business: Marián Hlava?ka , the CEO of CORWIN won the award for visionary leadership and trailblazing sustainability integration in real estate in Slovakia and across the region, arguing for sustainability as good business sense.

CEE Leader in Sustainable Finance Policy: Martin ?polc - for the European Commission - EU Economy and Finance work on the adoption and implementation of the EU Sustainable Finance framework

A special category was created in the end due to the high number of nominations:

Czech Leader in Sustainable Finance Policy: Richard Ju?ík from the Ministry of Environment, for his work on the DNSH principle guidelines and the efforts to integrate sustainability in public finance and public policy in Czechia.

News ?

• Bloomberg – ECB to Impose First-Ever Fines on Banks for Climate Failures??
• Bloomberg – Hydrogen-Powered Private Jets Can Cut Emissions – If They Can Get Off the Ground??
• Bloomberg - The $1 bn fund appending ESG dogma and trouncing peers??
• Bloomberg - Banks Warned of 'Huge' Fallout of UK's New Greenwash Law??
• Bloomberg – ESG posted child Unilever Scales Waters Down Green Pledges??
• Bloomberg - BNP Bond Desks Stop Offering Regular Oil and Gas Deals??
• Financial Times – Europeans at risk from tropical illnesses due to climate change?
• Financial Times – https://www.ft.com/content/3417b458-76ca-467e-aa21-939b780f2810?
• European Commission – Two years of REPowerEU: Strengthening Europe's energy resilience??
• IFRS – GRI and IFRS Foundation collaboration to deliver full interoperability that enables seamless sustainability reporting??
• OpenDemocracy – Nation-states are destroying the world. Could 'bioregions' be the answer???
• Offshore Technology –? Shell waters down net zero targets as it moves away from renewables, according to its new energy transition strategy for 2024?

• ESMA– The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) calls for enhanced supervision and improved market practice on sustainability-related claims???
• ESG today – CDP launches new sustainability reporting platform aligned with IFRS Climate disclosure standard?
• ESG today– Week in Review??
• ESG today – LEGO Group Ties Bonuses for All Employees to Emissions Reduction Goals??
• ESG today – EU Issues New Rules for Funds Using “ESG” or “Sustainability” Names to Address Greenwashing Risk??
• ESG today – Climate Investor Pollination Launches $150 Million VC Fund to Back Climate and Nature Solutions Startups?
• Responsible Investor – Spain expects to miss July CSRD transposition deadline??
• Responsible Investor – ESG round-up: UK delays sustainability standards endorsement to 2025?
• ESG Investor – China Leads Way on Green Bond Issuance??
• ESG Investor –IA Issues SDR Guidance??
• SBTN – New target validation host announced??
• IPE – EU mulls lower capital charges for blended finance?
• ECOTEXTILE News – Final approve for EU due diligence law??
• Benefits Canada – Expert panel: How transition investments can help institutional investors reach net zero??
• BBVA: BBVA Colombia and IFC announce the financial sector's first biodiversity bond issue?

Articles and recommended reading

• Medium - Decision-Useless Sustainability Disclosures: The problem of green noise, existing ESG frameworks promote accurate disclosures, but useful information may still drown in a sea of green noise??
• Hugh Wheelan: Why are ESG houses losing senior staff and making redundancies? After Sustainalytics, companies including MSCI and ESG Book have also been shedding c-suite and research staff, often without announcement. What are the implications??

• Corporate Disclosures - EFRAG SRB approves ESRS/TNFD mapping??
• Accounting for Sustainability - Insurance-associated emissions: top tips for finance teams. Report discussing the relationship between insurance and climate change??
• ECGI – Does sustainable investing work? (Part 3) Reaching Orbit? Part three of the series by Harald Walkate and Tom Gosling creating a three-stage space analogy for sustainable investing??
• Are Carbon Emissions Associated with Stock Returns? A new article in Review of Finance.
• ECGI – Does Sustainable Investing work? A Literature Review provides academic evidence about the efficacy of sustainable investing approaches??
• EFRAG releases new ESRS Q and A technical explanations. EFRAG releases a compilation of 44 new explanations to respond to respond to stakeholders'' technical questions on the ESRS?
• Carrots with(out) sticks: credit policy and the limits of green central banking research article considers the role of central bank interventions in credit and financial markets in support of decarbonisation?
• Sustainable Views - Why industry leaders should reject the politicisation of sustainable investment??

Reports and publications

• Climate Outreach: Trust and influence report exploring the concepts of trust and influence in climate communications and equips communicators with the tools to build more trust with the people they are trying to engage?
• Narodna Banka Slovenska Eurosystem introducing Five Key Aspects of Climate Change in Slovakia?
• UKSIF & PwC report on the UK's SDR highlights initial insights and recommendations for implementation?
• Blended Finance Taskforce published a report on Mobilising Domestic Capital to Drive Climate Positive Growth?
• Morningstar ESMA's Guidelines on ESG Fund names report which aims to protect investors from greenwashing and establish minimum standards for funds marketed in the EU that include specific ESG terms in their names?
• United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) published 7 risk briefs focused on different sectors, exploring the climate-related risk in each. Each brief looks at physical and transition risks, engagement questions for clients in each sector, just transition considerations and risks identified by companies in the sector, along with case studies on risks in the sector.
• Power Generation: https://lnkd.in/eXvz5QHZ
• Agriculture: https://lnkd.in/ePb2FPqt
• Industrials: https://lnkd.in/ebAsA-PB
• Real Estate: https://lnkd.in/dzajCkVD
• Oil and Gas: https://lnkd.in/eErbrZzm
• Transportation: https://lnkd.in/eT7ZVngV
• Metals and Mining: https://lnkd.in/eY3GbRuM
• Green Finance Institute has published a report on "Assessing Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK"

Online community insights

• LinkedIn post: Clément Maufras comments on data from Veolia about public opinion on climate change in the Czech Republic??
• LinkedIn post: Jennifer Wilkins comments on her paper about De-growth aligned finance??
• LinkedIn post: Jean Boissinot comments on Climate Change and net zero transition: the difference between very late and too late?
• LinkedIn post: Shiva Dunstdar promotes a summit organised by EIB institute??
• LinkedIn post:Zsolt Lengyel comments on greenwashing tricks and tactics and promotes EU's Green Claims Directive??
• LinkedIn post: David Carlin compares ISSB and ESRS sustainability standards in a friendly Excel mapping??
• LinkedIn post: Duncan Austin comments on Microsoft and their sustainability report alongside their commitment to transparency??
• LinkedIn post: EU Economy and Finance reflecting on webinar that happened last month?
• LinkedIn post: Jana Bour comments in impact investing and its success with European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ?
• LinkedIn post: Tom Gosling commenting on UKSIF and its production of its excellent series “Financing the future”?
• LinkedIn Post: ESG Book highlights the increasing use of emissions trading systems (ETS) adopted by governments worldwide as one of the key responses to climate crisis. ESG Book's data highlight that 58% of global GDP are utilising an ETS.?

Events

Online

• 17 June, Monday: A book presentation - join this exciting opportunity to learn more about a brand new book "Delivering a Climate Neutral Europe" by Jos Delbeke . The session will be joined by Laura Iozzelli , Damien Meadows from DG KLIMA, and Christian Holzleitner . You can register and watch the session online here: https://www.eui.eu/events?id=570378

June?

• Between 4 to 5 June, CEE GRI 2024 gathering for top real estate professionals to fester deal flow was organised in Warsaw. The discussions will cover doubts about investor appetite, inflation, foreign capital flow and asset reliance that impact market uncertainty.??
• On 12 and 13 June, Responsible Investor will host its annual RI Europe 2024 event in London. The agenda is packed with experts and practitioners of sustainable finance and business.
• Between 11 and 12 June, Responsible Business Europe 2024, hosted by Reuters Events Pharma takes place in London, UK. The event brings together senior business leaders, industry experts and regulatory bodies, providing market-leading solutions to the current challenges faced by a responsible business leader.?
• On 12 June, ESG FinTech Summit will take place in London, featuring a range of in-depth sessions on the nexus between finance and tech, with speakers such as Ella Chalfon (Medvedyeva) from Nomura, Juliette Faure from BlackRock, Alex Mollart from Tandem Bank and Nikki Bartlett Chartered FCIPD from CDP .?
• On 20 June, Národná banka Slovenska together with International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) will host a special half a day event that aims to bring together decision makers and professionals who are shaping the EU's sustainable finance framework and disclosure regime. The event will provide a unique opportunity for local stakeholders to discuss key challenges they face, hear about the latest early or best market practices, and understand better what changes and updates to expect going forward. ?? More information and the registration form: https://lnkd.in/eK3Y2gHz

• On 25 June, ICMA - International Capital Market Association will host its 2024 Annual Conference of the Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, or the "conference of the Principles" in Amsterdam. Programme and registration is on the official website: https://www.icmagroup.org/events/10th-annual-conference-of-the-principles/
• Between 26 and 28 June, SPE Europe Energy Conference & Exhibition aims to provide a common platform across various disciplines, with a spotlight on the notable scientific and technical advancements in the sphere of energy transition?
• On 27 June, an event called How to Achieve Net Zero and Retain Your Customers with AI and Automation is hosted by NeuCurrent.?

July??

• Between 11 and 18 July, Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Live Online Course is hosted by Infocus International?
• Between 2 and 3 July, Sustainable Aviation Futures hosts and online event with a focus on Carbon Markets for Aviation and Aviation Fuels?

October?

• Between 3 and 4 October RSFIA platform along with European Investment Bank (EIB) , 世界银行 , 联合国开发计划署 and HUSZPO - Hrvatska udruga stru?njaka za?tite prirode i okoli?a will organise? Symposium24. This event offers the opportunity to delve into the connections between sustainability reporting standards and EU Taxonomy requirements, existing tools for public sector environmental decision-making, social aspect of the EU's sustainable finance framework.?
• Between 14 and 15 October, RICS will host its RICS Built Environment European Summit in Bilbao, Spain. International Sustainable Finance Centre (ISFC) is joining the event as a knowledge partner, and our CEO Linda Zeilina-Cross will speak at one of the sessions. More details and the programme are on the event website?

November

• Between 11 and 22 November, Baku will host COP29. The official website has launched information for participants.

Podcasts

• Andrew Parry's podcast series Organising the Future with special guest Harald Walkate
• Sustainability Bridges is a Eurosif - The European Sustainable Investment Forum podcast that aims to bridge the gap between policymaking and the practice of sustainable investing.
• Green is the New Finance - a podcast by Green Finance Institute showcasing leading thinking on how to mobilise capital towards a greener, more inclusive and resilient global economy.?
• ESG in Conversation is a podcast by Morningstar Sustainalytics - a digest of the latest research, analysis and insights on the relationships between environmental social and corporate governance issues and global business, finance and society.