The EU Sustainable Taxonomy is an important market transparency tool, operating as a classification system that defines criteria for economic activities that are aligned with the climate and energy targets for 2030 and the European green deal. To this end, EU Taxonomy clearly defines what is sustainable economic activity, protecting financial and non-financial companies from greenwashing and allowing them to direct investments to activities commonly understood as sustainable.

However, the Taxonomy has so far not envisaged restrictions in connection to economic activity (e.g., capital requirements), nor incentives. The focus in rather on the firm’s impact on sustainability goals. The final text included some controversial activities as sustainable economic activities, such as nuclear energy or gas, but has not (yet) included activities such as chemicals, automotives, or mechanical engineering.

Following Commission proposal and final agreement between the co-legislators, the Taxonomy regulation entered into force in July 2020 and has, since then, been supplemented with delegated acts several times. Deutsche Börse Group welcomed a common classification system and reiterated the need for global interoperability between Sustainable Taxonomy systems that would avoid creating an uneven playing field.

For further information on Deutsche Börse Group’s positioning on the matter, find our statements and position papers under Publications.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive law requires all large companies and all listed companies (except listed micro-enterprises) to disclose information on what they see as risks and opportunities arising from social and environmental issues, and on the impact of their activities on people and the environment. CSRD ensures that that investors and other stakeholders have access to information relevant to assess sustainability performance of companies and financial risks and opportunities arising from sustainability issues.

The Directive has been adopted and published in the Official Journal of the EU in December 2022, after which some European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) have been adopted and published. In 2024, co-legislators have twice struck a political deal postponing adoption deadlines for certain ESRS.  

Deutsche Börse Group has always supported adoption of coherent reporting standards to be extended beyond climate only and to provide a level playing field irrespective of form of financing.

For further information on Deutsche Börse Group’s positioning on the matter, find our statements and position papers under Publications.

EU Green Bond Standard (GBS) was introduced as an important milestone towards meeting the financing needs of the low-carbon transition and sets the standard for green bonds issuance. The standard is, however, voluntary and relies on the criteria set by the EU Sustainable Taxonomy to define economic activities which are considered green and aligned with sustainable practices. Building on the Taxonomy, GBS establishes external review of companies carrying out pre- and post-issuance at the European level, with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) mandated to supervise these external reviewers, creating an efficient green-issuance ecosystem.

Following a legislative proposal by the Commission, co-legislators reached a political agreement on the final wording of the EU Green Bond Standard, which was published in the Official Journal of the EU in November 2023 and subsequently entered into force by the end of the same year. Deutsche Börse Group has positioned itself as one of the leading green/ESG venues in Europe. We have always advocated for legal certainty and prevention of greenwashing to create market confidence and tradability of green/ESG instruments.

For further information on Deutsche Börse Group’s positioning on the matter, find our statements and position papers under Publications.

Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) imposes mandatory ESG disclosure obligations for asset managers and other financial markets participants. The SFDR has been introduced as a part of a package of legislative measures, alongside the EU Taxonomy, with the aim of creating a level playing field for financial market participants and asset managers on transparency in relation to sustainability risks and consideration of adverse sustainability impacts in their investment processes.

The SFDR introduced requirements for Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) and UCITS managers to provide standardised disclosures on how ESG factors are integrated at the fund and product level. A significant portion of all the requirements applies to all asset managers, irrespective of whether they express ESG or sustainability focus, increasing reliability and trust in the markets.
Following adoption by the co-legislators, the SFDR came into force in the beginning of 2021 and has been fully applicable since the beginning of 2023.

Deutsche Börse Group is not itself in scope of the SFDR but has always been at the clients’ disposal, assisting with reporting solutions and analytics & ratings.

For further information on Deutsche Börse Group’s positioning on the matter, find our statements and position papers under Publications.