ACCA, Accountancy Europe, Association of German Banks (BdB), CDSB, EFAMA, Frank Bold, IIGCC, Schroders, Share Action, WWF have decided to form an informal group on Sustainable Finance. The group is used as platform for collaboration and coordination and can serve in the future as a useful forum for further interactions with the EU institutions.

We have issued a joint statement for which BNP Paribas AM and Candriam have also confirmed their support, while not being part of the informal group itself.

The European Union, and the world economy, are facing one of the biggest challenges of our time in designing the means and tools to foster a green economic recovery. It is more important than ever for both the private and the public sector to work together on policy priorities governments should take in reaction to this crisis. We believe that the Non-Financial Reporting Directive should make a leap forward in improving the quality, comparability, and consistency of environmental, social and governance (ESG) information.

As a group of stakeholders with different backgrounds, but a common interest in sustainable finance, we believe the following matters are instrumental in the upcoming revision of the NFRD:

1. Expand the scope beyond large listed companies
2. Disclose non-financial information in the annual management report
3. Strengthen the social and governance aspects
4. Develop minimum mandatory reporting requirements
5. Build on existing reporting initiatives (to achieve comprehensive non-financial reporting)
6. Keep up the international role for reporting standards
7. Ensure legislative consistency and avoid duplication of reporting legislation