EU Sustainable Finance Regulation: A missed opportunity for transformative change?

This article suggests that the transition towards a more sustainable version of finance and the financial system is at a critical juncture. At such juncture, the article considers the extent to which the sustainable finance regulations that have been adopted to date can be understood as having introduced change of a transformative, novel or business-as-usual type. The article also reflects on how the conclusions drawn could be used to improve European sustainable finance strategy in the future.

1. Introduction

Sustainability has been a dominant theme of recent times. Indeed, it has featured heavily in the EU financial regulatory agenda since the publication of the 2018 Sustainable Finance Action Plan. As part of the EU's drive to integrate sustainability into finance, a raft of new measures have been adopted at EU level including the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR),  the Taxonomy Regulation, the EU Green Bond Standard Regulation (EuGB...

Verder in dit artikel:

1. Introduction

2. Sustainability at a critical juncture: contemporary political context

3. Key Sustainable Finance Regulations

3.1. The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)

3.2. The Taxonomy Regulation

3.3. Miscellaneous Amendments

3.4. Recent additions to the sustainable finance framework

4. Evaluating the contribution of sustainable finance regulation

4.1. Business-as-usual changes

4.2. Novel changes

4.3. Changes of a transformative nature

5. Conclusions & Implications