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EU Publishes New Sustainable Finance Package
07/11/2023The EU published a new Sustainable finance package 2023 on June 13, 2023. The package includes:- A Proposed Regulation on the transparency and integrity of ESG rating activities, which aims to enhance the quality of ESG ratings. The Regulation will introduce an authorization and ongoing supervision regime for ESG rating providers along with certain obligations, e.g., disclosures on ratings methodologies. The proposal does not intend to harmonize the methodologies for the calculation of ESG ratings, but to increase their transparency. Third-country ESG rating providers may be able to offer their services in the EU under either equivalence, endorsement or recognition. The U.K. is currently consulting on making the provision of ESG ratings a regulated activity.
- Two Taxonomy Delegated Acts:
- The Environmental Delegated Act and amendments to the Disclosures Delegated Act, which specifies criteria to determine when activities in certain sectors (e.g., manufacturing, water supply, information and communication) qualify as contributing substantially to certain environmental objectives. The Delegated Act also specifies criteria on whether those economic activities cause significant harm to other environmental objectives.
- The Delegated Act amending the Climate Delegated Act: the existing Climate Delegated Act sets out criteria to determine when certain activities qualify as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation/adaptation and do not cause significant harm to other environmental objectives. The new amending Delegated Act establishes criteria for activities not yet included in that Climate Delegated Act, e.g., some manufacturing activities for low carbon transport components.
- Various other communications on the EU's sustainable finance package were also included, including a Communication on a sustainable finance framework that works on the ground and a draft Commission recommendation on facilitating finance for the transition to a sustainable economy.
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