European Sustainability Reporting Standards: obstacle or booster to filling the green investment gap? Feeding into European investors’ decisions to finance the green transition

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022 and the environmental disasters Europe has face this summer, reaching carbon neutrality has never seem so urgent. A condition for this is to close the gap of public and private investments estimated at EUR 350 billion per year in the EU over this decade.

Other than massification, investments need to be channeled towards qualitative green projects. Increasing the quality and quantity of information available on the impacts and risks of companies’ activities on sustainability is one of the tools the EU is working on to better direct financing towards the transition, as outlined by the Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy. The Corporate sustainable reporting directive (CSRD) already adopted and that will enter into force in 2025, is supposed to grant investors access to sustainable information that is sufficiently relevant, reliable, comparable and usable.

The disclosure indicators the companies will report on in the frame of the CSRD still remain a topic of discussion: the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, EFRAG will provide a set of sustainability standards to the European Commission by the end of the year. These standards are at the center of attention as they will cover the reporting obligations under several EU sustainable finance legislations including the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and the EU Taxonomy.

This Intergroup conference, chaired by MEP and co-chair of the Intergroup Dominique Riquet will focus on how the sustainability standards are fit for channeling investments towards the green transition. Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, Deputy Director-General of DG FISMA, European Commission will provide the keynote speech.

The panel discussion, moderated by Jurei Yada, Program Leader for EU Sustainable Finance, E3G, will consider both the challenges of the users and the preparers of information, in particular:

• Are the sustainability reporting standards proposed by EFRAG fit to channel investments needed for the green transition (double materiality, ESG covering…)?
• What articulation is foreseen with the work of the IFRS?
• How to ensure the data reported is readable and relevant for investors (materiality assessment, prioritization of information…)?
• How can companies best prepare for answering the new CSRD requirements? (HR, IT systems…)

Confirmed speakers include:

• Patrick de Cambourg, President of the Autorité des normes comptables and Chair of the Project Task Force on European Sustainability Reporting Standards, EFRAG

• Erik van der Plaats, Senior Expert in corporate reporting, audit and credit rating agencies, DG FISMA, European Commission

• Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director, Eurosif

• Héléna Charrier, Director SRI, La Banque Postale Asset Management

Pascal Durand, Member of European Parliament (Renew) and Rapporteur of the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive will conclude the conference.

Contact:

Caroline François-Marsal, secretariat@investmentindustryintergroup.eu