The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has today published a new report 'Sustainable Finance in the EU: Priorities to unlock financing and investment'. The paper outlines AFME members’ views and recommendations on the functioning of the current EU sustainable finance framework and the implementation challenges that banks face in applying it to financing companies.

The paper then highlights AFME’s constructive recommendations for policymakers, including how policymakers and regulators can further enable financial institutions in providing financing in support of climate, environmental and social goals.

The report sets out five priority recommendations to address identified challenges:

• Maintain focus on establishing roadmaps, reducing regulatory barriers for the deployment of sustainable investment projects and providing incentives for the real economy transition;
• Ensure that the regulatory framework is achieving its goals, is coherent and usable in practice to promote and support sustainable finance (including transition finance);
• Provide a stable regulatory framework with time for implementation and review how it is working in practice, with targeted guidance/changes introduced where needed in consultation with market participants;
• Ensure that regulation is promoting investment and does not adversely impact the competitiveness of financial institutions or companies operating in the EU and internationally; and
• Enhance international coordination and improve international interoperability with other key jurisdictions.

Alongside recommendations on improving the functioning of the EU regulatory framework, the report also sets out AFME’s recommendations in three further important areas which we see as priorities for EU policymakers:

1. Facilitating transition finance;
2. Developing carbon markets; and
3. Scaling finance for nature.