The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) has called for a balanced transition from the 2018 Sustainable Finance Action Plan at the launch of the consultation of the EU’s Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy.

EFAMA notes that many legislative proposals were developed in parallel, and as a result some inconsistencies and gaps emerged and that the new strategy “needs to put the different pieces of the puzzle together”.

The organisation also recognised that the current COVID-19 crisis means that most corporates are now in survival mode and it may prove necessary to increase the focus on the “S” factor, in particularly human capital and societal imbalances of ESG commitments, and EFAMA questions whether the right time to dedicate a lot of efforts on the “G” factor, especially given the existence of corporate governance and stewardship codes. However, the organisation welcomes the Commission’s intention to improve ESG disclosure by investee companies, as well as the market for ESG data and ratings, saying, “Robust, reliable and publicly available ESG data on investee companies is essential to make sustainable finance work in practice.”

Share Story: