ESG

On 13 December 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued Q&As on the application of its guidelines on funds’ names using ESG or sustainability-related terms (Guidelines).

Background

On 21 August 2024, ESMA announced that it had published translations of the Guidelines in all official EU languages.

Following the publication

On 12 December 2024, there was published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ), Regulation (EU) 2024/3005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 on the transparency and integrity of Environmental, Social and Governance rating activities, and amending Regulations (EU) 2019/2088 and (EU) 2023/2859.

The Regulation enters

On 12 November 2024, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiele Markten, AFM) published its Consumer Monitor Investors report (Consumentenmonitor Beleggers). The key message in the report is that not all asset managers and investment advisors comply with the obligation to ask investors about their sustainability preferences. Only 25%

On 14 November 2024, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published a Conceptual Note on Adaptation and a Synthesis Report on the greening of the financial system.

Conceptual Note

The Conceptual Note is the first comprehensive exploration by the NGFS of climate adaptation and its implications for financial stability. It

On 5 November 2024, the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) published the fifth vintage of its long-term climate macro-financial scenarios for forward-looking climate risks assessments.

The NGFS scenarios explore the transition and physical impacts of climate change, over a long-time horizon and under varying assumptions. The main development of this fifth

On 27 October 2024, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) issued a discussion paper which sets out draft guidance on nature transition planning for corporates and financial institutions developing and disclosing a transition plan in line with the TNFD recommended disclosures.

Focus areas

The draft guidance covers all aspects of nature apart

On 1 October 2024, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) published the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) 2024 Progress Report, which concludes that most NZBA banks are taking significant steps towards meeting their climate goals.

Banks voluntarily commit, when joining NZBA, to:

  • Independently setting their first targets for reducing