@mariavanderheide.bsky.social

💼 Head of EU Policy @shareaction.bsky.social 🌍 Advocating for responsible investment & sustainable finance 📍 Brussels | Views my own | Reposts ≠ endorsements Before at ActionAid, the European Parliament, MSF

"Welcome to the new consensus: where military spending could become the next frontier of so-called ‘sustainable’ finance." To protect the integrity of the EU's sustainable finance framework, we must not mix defending sovereignty and investing sustainably. #KeepDefenceOut!

Why defence spending shouldn’t be labelled sustainable | Finance Watch

Welcome to the new consensus: where military spending could become the next frontier of so-called ‘sustainable’ finance.

finance-watch.org

🚨 New research shows up to 4 in 5 European insurers could be excluded from sustainability reporting under changes to #CSRD This would gut transparency & accountability in a sector key to managing climate risks, with serious consequences for financial stability and society ⬇️ bit.ly/4dhFeGh

Insurance in transition: Decoding the Omnibus agenda’s ripple effect

(Thursday 15th May) Up to 4 in 5 European insurers currently covered by sustainability reporting obligations could soon fall outside the scope of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), according to new research commissioned by ShareAction.

bit.ly

🔴 NEW analysis of the major 20 European banks’ “transition plans” shows that NONE of them has published a plan aligned with a 1.5°C trajectory. Regulation is the only way to drive them to transition. As we evaluated their transition plans on 5 dimensions, here’s what we’ve learned: ⤵️🧵 [1/6]

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Disappointing news today from the Net Zero Banking Alliance, the bank-led initiative aimed at aligning the banking sector's activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Banks must be held accountable & responsible investors have a critical role to play in keeping the pressure on. 👇

Quote from Jeanne Martin, Co-Director of Corporate Engagement, discussing the Net Zero Banking Alliance's decision to relax its guidelines. The quote highlights the importance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and calls for banks to strengthen their climate commitments. The full quote reads: 'The Net Zero Banking Alliance has watered down its guidelines - notably those that say member banks should align their portfolios with a 1.5C warming limit. Every 0.1 of a degree matters and the higher global temperatures get, the harder it will be to deal with these impacts, and the greater the financial risks for banks and their investors [...] Responsible investors must double down on pressure to hold banks accountable to their climate commitments and urge them to play their part in fast tracking the transition rather than delaying progress.'

NatWest has created a loophole in its policy to profit from short term oil & gas deals that in the long term will have negative financial & climate impacts Today, we travelled to their AGM to ask the bank to explain the change in policy that flies in the face of its previous climate commitments⏬

Mr. Wopke Hoekstra the time for #ClimateAction is now. The EU’s climate ambition sets the tone globally. Watering down the #2040Target with "flexibilities" (aka loopholes👎) would send the wrong message and cost the EU far more in the long term 🫰 www.politico.eu/article/eu-e...

EU exploring weaker 2040 climate goal

The European Commission wants to keep a 90 percent emissions-cutting target but to change how countries calculate their progress.

politico.eu

🚨NEW: climate inaction will cost more than a third of global GDP this century, but an investment of less than 2% GDP now will reduce harms by 90% - a "massive opportunity for humanity", finds a report from Boston Consulting Group and University of Cambridge.

Climate Inaction Could Cost 1/3 Of Global GDP This Century, BCG Warns

The Big 3 consulting firm finds that most harms come from productivity losses, but also reveals how nations could avoid 90% of climate damage.

forbes.com

BREAKING NEWS: The MEP vote to 'stop the clock' (delay reporting obligations) for the #CSRD and EU #Omnibus of sustainability laws has just been set for 12noon on Tuesday 1 April. The vote and any amendments will be an important signpost to how the Omnibus might be expected to proceed overall.

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