ESG Reporting Mandatory For Large EU Companies

摘要

In April 2021 the European Commission adopted a package of sustainable finance measures including reporting requirementsand advisers’ duties, strengthening the rules under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), requiring companies to discloseinformation on social and environmental challenges. Its proposal would extend NFRD sustainability reporting requirementsto all large and listed companies, meaning nearly 50,000 companies in Europe. The EC is developing a separate set of comparablestandards for small and medium-sized enterprises. The package includes rules requiring advisers to discuss clients’ sustainabilitypreferences and changes to the EU Taxonomy Regulation – a classification system for sustainable investments, based on six objectives.It establishes technical screening criteria for the first two categories, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation.Valdis Dombrovskis, executive VP of the European Commission for its ‘an economy that works for people’ initiative, said that themeasures would enable investors to re-orientate their activities towards more sustainable technologies and businesses, in line withmaking Europe climate neutral by 2050. “Europe was a leader in reforming the financial system to support investments for climatechange. Today, we are taking a leap forward with the first-ever climate taxonomy which will help companies and investors to knowwhether their investments and activities are really green... essential if we are to mobilise private investment in sustainable activities.”