SNS/SHoF Finance Panel: What will the EU taxonomy mean for companies?

During the coming months, the European Council and Parliament, have the opportunity to object to the proposal from the European Commission on a regulatory framework to identify environmentally sustainable investments, the so-called taxonomy. In Sweden, there are fears regarding how forestry, hydropower, and bioenergy will be classified.

At the meeting, we focused on possible consequences for companies of the taxonomy. Andreas Barkman from the European Environment Agency (EEA) and Marie Baumgarts at SEB have both worked on the taxonomy proposal as part of the EU Commission group of experts on sustainable finance.

Andreas Barkman presented the main ideas of the taxonomy and the work going forward. Marie Baumgarts discussed plausible consequences of the taxonomy for companies, for example when it comes to reporting and value chains. Gustav Martinsson, Associate Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology, presented his thoughts on how the taxonomy compares to other climate policy proposals.

The Finance Panel is a meeting forum for the financial sector, hosted by SNS and the Swedish House of Finance. Swedish House of Finance (SHOF) at the Stockholm School of Economics is Sweden’s national research center in financial economics.

 

Participants

Andreas Barkman, European Environment Agency (EEA)
Marie Baumgarts, Head of Sustainability Regulatory Affairs, SEB 
Gustav Martinsson, Associate Professor, Royal Institute of Technology

The meeting was held in Swedish and moderated by Ilinca Benson, Deputy CEO of SNS.