S&D Euro MPs today welcome the Commission’s proposals to step up investments which will help the EU to manage its transition to a low-carbon economy and meet the COP 21 climate change goals.
S&D Group spokesperson for the economic and monetary affairs, Pervenche Berès, stated:
“The Socialists and Democrats are fully committed to putting Europe on the path of sustainable development. Greening the European economy is a priority. It will create more jobs opportunities and ultimately safeguard our planet. However, this will require reforming the financial system in order to redirect capital towards sustainable investments.
“The Commission's plan puts forward ambitious proposals to achieve this goal: a support for a taxonomy and labels applied to all financial products, the use of sustainability-based benchmarks.
“The presence of the social dimension of sustainability throughout the plan is for us a prerequisite.
“However, in areas such as the reform of the European Supervision Agencies and the role of the public sector, a follow-up through concrete legislative proposals is now necessary to move swiftly forward.”
S&D Group spokesperson on the sustainable finance, Paul Tang, added :
“The S&D Group has consistently argued for a strong sustainable dimension of the Capital Markets Union.
“To change the game of the financial sector, ambitious legislation is needed. The taxonomy needs a strong and balanced inclusion of environmental, social and governmental risks and factors. In addition, a mandatory due diligence should require investors to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for sustainability risks.
“Furthermore, the public sector must be considered as a risk taker, innovator and market creator. This is key to develop a deep, liquid and efficient green bond market. The action plan does not include legislative initiatives for green bonds. However, a legislative initiative on green bonds issued by existing and future European institutions, such as the EIB and the European Monetary Fund, can attract more private investment re-orienting capital flows towards sustainable and inclusive growth.
“Ultimately, we want to put our money towards a more sustainable and just society. Only then, we can prompt the financial sector to contribute to the goals of the Paris climate agreement.”
