Sustainable Finance

The end of the year brings an opportunity for reflection on the progress of the last twelve months – and, looking back, it is fair to say that 2024 hasn’t been all smooth sailing in the world of sustainable finance.

Indeed, sustainable finance professionals worldwide have found themselves navigating through uncharted waters, with the strong winds of geopolitical events adding to already choppy seas. In the vast ocean of sustainable finance regulation, these challenges have been impossible to ignore, with political tensions leading to delays and amendments to a number of sustainability regulations over the last year.

Nonetheless it is clear that there is still a significant amount of momentum behind the regulatory direction of change in relation to sustainable finance. In the UK, the end of the year has brought a final flurry of regulatory activity with several government consultations announced, including (i) a consultation on the value case for a UK Green Taxonomy, (ii) a call for technical comments on a proposed ESG ratings regulation and (iii) a call for evidence on the UK's financial services growth and competitiveness strategy. In the EU, we also had news of a proposed omnibus agreement aimed at "simplifying" the current sustainability framework, including the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the EU Taxonomy. Whilst recognising that there is limited detail available, we are currently seeking views on the omnibus proposal - so please do get in contact if you have any feedback you would like us to take into account.

At the start of December, our Sustainable Finance Regulatory Committee (the Committee) met to discuss objectives and priorities for 2025. Priority areas identified for 2025 include transition finance, greenwashing risk, horizons scanning, corporate sustainability reporting and 'joining the dots' between regulation and market practice. I would like to thank the Committee for all their hard work this year, and look forward to working with them all over the next 12 months as part of our efforts to assist members with navigating the complex rules and regulations of sustainable finance.

And just a quick final note - work is well underway on our greenwashing insights report which we will be launching in Q1 2025, so please do get in touch if you’d like to find out more!