Asset managers unite to urge European Commission to tighten ESG reporting rules
Once passed, the law will determine how much environmental, social and governance data about 50,000 companies need to disclose to investors and other stakeholders.
The coalition, which includes Fidelity, Candriam and five ESG foundations such as the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), have asked for the latest changes to the first set of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to be altered.
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Once passed, the law will determine how much environmental, social and governance data about 50,000 companies need to disclose to investors and other stakeholders. But the coalition said the required data is not enough for investors to make informed ESG decisions.
In a joint statement, they presented the shortfalls in the new law along with their suggestions.
«We are concerned by the proposals to move away from requiring certain key disclosure indicators to be reported on a mandatory basis, which will instead be subject to materiality assessment,» it said.
«We see this as a significant rollback of ambition compared to that envisaged by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).
»We recognise the implementation challenges of the ESRS. However, the final draft ESRS set 1 published by EFRAG in November 2022 was already the result of a compromise between all stakeholders."
The group added this included representatives of the reporting companies, financial markets participants, advisers including auditors and civil society, and that after a public consultation, the number of reporting requirements was nearly halved compared to the initial EFRAG proposals.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said
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