European investors urge EU policymakers to upgrade corporate reporting rules

Source: , 30 November 2018

European investors have called on EU leaders and legislators to implement a fit-for-purpose framework of corporate reporting that delivers better climate change and environmental information to financial markets.  

Noting that while the European Commission’s Action Plan ‘Financing Sustainable Growth’ represents progress in supporting sustainable investment, the statement says that the information available under current EU regulation does not deliver capital flows at the scale needed to deliver a low carbon, climate-resilient and resource-efficient economy.

The signatory investors call on EU policymakers to:

  • Align corporate reporting with the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to mitigate financial risk;
  • Create a level playing field across the EU by implementing consistent corporate reporting requirements like those of financial reporting;
  • Standardize sector-specific reporting metrics that increase comparability and consistency and enable tracking progress against public policy targets and clearly defined time horizons, and;
  • Address the shortcomings of the European corporate reporting legislative framework by stressing policy coherence between investor duties and corporate reporting.

Launched today and open for further investor signatories, the statement follows the unveiling of a new 2050 climate neutrality plan for the EU and comes as the European Commission today hosts a conference on the future of corporate reporting as part of its fitness check.

The first signatories of the open statement are:

ACTIAM N.V.
Arkitekternes Pensionskasse
AXA Investment Managers
Candriam Investors Group
Caisse des Dépôts
MIROVA
Pensionskassen for Jordbrugsakademikere og Dyrlæger
PKA A/S
ROBECO
RobecoSAM AG
Sampension Livsforsikring A/S
Schroders plc

Read the statement