1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:02,680 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Dana Perkins and you're listening to Switch It 2 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: on the b n F podcast. So what is a taxonomy? Well, 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: what immediately comes to mind our species and some of 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,119 Speaker 1: the stuff I learned in my high school science class, 5 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: or maybe some of the stuff that we find out 6 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: about when watching a documentary by David Attenborough. So when 7 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: we talk about the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities, what 8 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: I'm thinking is that there must be an awful lot 9 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: of stuff that needs to be classified and this taxonomy 10 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: will help us do it. So if you want to 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: actually know what it is, Mark Taylor and I have 12 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: sat down with Maya Gottamer, who is an analyst researching 13 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: sustainable finance for BENF and she's going to talk to 14 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: us about this EU taxonomy. If you're in finance and 15 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: you're focused on environmental, social and governance issues or e 16 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: s G, you likely know what this is, as there 17 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: has been quite a buzz the past couple of years 18 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: and it's all really coming together now with a deadline 19 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: approaching in twenty two. But if you're not, you might 20 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: be left wondering what was it designed to do and 21 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: how might it impact business and finance. Well, Maya recently 22 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: wrote a research piece titled EU Taxonomy, How to Prepare 23 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: your reporting for two And if that's a bit advanced 24 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: and you're thinking what is going on with all of 25 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: the E s G terminology, you can go back to 26 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: a primer that Kyle Harrison wrote last year titled Shifting 27 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: through the Corporate Sustainability Alphabet soup. These are both available 28 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: on b NF dot com via our mobile app, or 29 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: for terminal subscribers at b NF Go. Now, Nope, b 30 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: NF does not provide investment of strategy advice, and we 31 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: always have a full disclaimer at the end of the show. 32 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: And for now, let's join Mark Taylor and Maya Gottomer 33 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: for today's discussion on the EU Taxonomy. Maya, thanks for 34 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,119 Speaker 1: joining us. You're welcome. So today we're going to talk 35 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: about the EU taxonomy. Now, this is something that governs 36 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: things that are considered a sustainable activity by a company, 37 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: and Maya is going to tell us all about it. 38 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: So Maya, let's start off with what was the taxonomy 39 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: hoping to achieve and really what problems where they trying 40 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: to solve when they originally set it up. Basically, the 41 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: taxonomy is part of a bigger action plan that was 42 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: set up by the European Commission. It was back in 43 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and eighteen, after assigning of the Paris Agreement 44 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 1: a bit before. Basically they set up an action plan 45 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: on sustainable finance and what they really wanted to do 46 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: is that having a strong way to define what we 47 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: would call a sustainable investment in the European Union and 48 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: to foster investment towards sustainable activities, sustainable projects and really 49 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: use finance as a tool to transition. So that was 50 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: what it was done at the beginning, is still to 51 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: foster green investment because it's an UNREA mentally sustainable activity. 52 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of existing reporting frameworks for 53 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: those people who want to support on various E s 54 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: G metrics. So today we're going to focus in I 55 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: think on the E part. What were they lacking that 56 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: there was a need for this taxonomy to come into place. First, 57 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: they were volunteering. We saw TCFD which brought a lot 58 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: of people on board which we were not expecting. To 59 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: jump on the bandwagon of East disclosure and in particularly 60 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: climate risk disclosure. You had says by g r I. 61 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 1: But the problem is that you had too many now 62 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: standardization and the goal of the taxonomy is was to 63 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: build a common classification of what we call green in 64 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: the European Union. So the goal was to have this classification. 65 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: It would be a bed rock for future regulations, so 66 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: regulation they can reach out to when they need to 67 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: define sustainability and ron mentally sustainable activities in the European Union. 68 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: This one was built by a combination of market participants, scientists, 69 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: people who really know the industries. So the goal was 70 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: to have a classification of how an activity could be 71 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: under mentally sustainable in a way that it aligns its 72 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: activity with the goal of the Parish Agreement. So normally 73 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: the Youth Taxonomy is basically defining itself as being science 74 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: based to reach net zero by and to reach alignment 75 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,799 Speaker 1: with Paris Agreement. Last time we had you on the show, 76 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: you mentioned that the taxonomy was coming. You know that 77 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: it was going to be starting to be put in 78 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: place in the near future. Why are we talking about 79 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:29,719 Speaker 1: it now? What has happened since a few months ago 80 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: to make this a hot topic right now? What happened 81 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: is that in the European Union it's a bit more 82 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,599 Speaker 1: complicated to pass a law. As you may all know, 83 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: you need to reach agreement between the Council of Europe, 84 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: the European Commission, European Parliament. So what happened is that 85 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 1: the taxonomy was in the pipeline. Back in the European 86 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: Commission designated what they called a technical expert group, which 87 00:04:54,640 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: was this group of scientists and geo's market participants, corporate 88 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 1: it's regulators that would work on the taxonomy standard. And 89 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: it took them a few iteration and report to finally 90 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: come with their latest report back in March, and they 91 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: put this report to the Commission. The Commission had to 92 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: review it, and then in July what happened is that 93 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: the taxonomy regulation finally was published at the official Journal 94 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: of the European Union and it entered into force in July. 95 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: When I said the taxonomy enters into force, it means 96 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: that a very high level text, which means that the 97 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the European Commission 98 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,039 Speaker 1: have agreed basically on the highest level of the regulation. 99 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: They've agreed on that it needs to be put in place, 100 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: that it's going to happen that type of thing exactly. 101 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: But then what happened is that in November we actually 102 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: had the implementation guidelines from the European Union saying, if 103 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: you're a cement manufacturer, this is exactly what you need 104 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,040 Speaker 1: to do if you want to be aligned with the taxonomy. 105 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: That it is too like what types of companies doesn't 106 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: apply to you? Semented, cement, who else? It's super broad. 107 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: In the latest report that we saw in March before 108 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: it became official from the European Commission, we had I 109 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: think about seventies seven, yes, seventy activities covered, ranging from manufacturing, industry, 110 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: service provider, energy utilities. That sounds like a lot. Is 111 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,680 Speaker 1: that a lot? Seventy seventy It's kind of a lot. 112 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: But at the same time you can imagine like clothes 113 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: retailer were not covered, food retailer were not covered, but aforestation, 114 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: food production like really commodities level were covered. And they 115 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: expanded the number of activities that were covered by the 116 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: taxonomy in the latest text in November, where even research 117 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: are academics were covered by the taxonomy. Some activities are 118 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: not even covered by the taxonomy because the European Commission 119 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,120 Speaker 1: it judges that in any case it can never claim 120 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: to be environmentally sustainable in any shape of form, for instance, 121 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: oil production, nuclear power generation. You will have some activities 122 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: that will never be covered by the taxonomy. If you're 123 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: a company that falls into one of the named industries 124 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: by the European Commission, then you must comply with this 125 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: if you want to be considered as a sustainable business 126 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: or is this for absolutely all of the companies and industries, 127 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: and that's something you have to do if you just 128 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: want to have a business in the European Union. So 129 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: the taxonomy lists all the industries that are eligible to 130 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: claim that they can be environmentally sustainable, so we call 131 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: it like eligibility to the taxonomy. And then after if 132 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: you really want to prove that you're unvironmentally sustainable, the 133 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: taxonomy will say, okay, let's say I'm a cement manufacturer. 134 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: How do I prove that the way I produce cement 135 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: is actually unvironmentally sustainable? So the taxonomy has laid out 136 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: the different we call it technical screening, So it has 137 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: laid out some tests that you need to perform on 138 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: your plans to prove that your plans, for instance, produces 139 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: cement under a certain level of greenhouse gas emission. It 140 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: protects water and everything. So that's the first thing. So 141 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: that's the way you can prove that you're unvironmentally sustainable. 142 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: But not everyone has a mondatory report around its taxonomy alignment. 143 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: Why everyone is now under pressing deadline about understanding what 144 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: is the taxonomy? How do you prove your unvironmentally sustainable? 145 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: Why is everyone caring about it suddenly right now? While honestly, 146 00:09:01,320 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: Dana and Mark, you know how much I've been like 147 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: talking about this since I've joined BENF. It's because as 148 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: of January two, all large listed companies in Europe that 149 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: are employing more than five hundred employees in Europe will 150 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: have to disclose how much of their turnover capex and 151 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: opex is generated or invested in activities that are aligned 152 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: with the taxonomy. So basically, how much of your revenue 153 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: is generated from green activities as of January two on 154 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: operation of one so basically the current year. And as 155 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: of January twenty two, asset manager who are claiming that 156 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: they have an e s G so environmentally social or 157 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: governance fund or sustainable fund, all those asset managers in 158 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,200 Speaker 1: the European Union will have to disclose the percentage of 159 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: their fund that is aligned with the taxonomy. This is 160 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: why everyone is freaking out. So this applies to funds 161 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 1: that are located in Europe, and I'm looking at the calendar, okay, 162 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: so we're barely into and for anybody who's listening before, 163 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: we are located in London. So I'm gonna ask the 164 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: question the elephant in the room Brexit. What does that 165 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: mean for all of the investors that are located in London. 166 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: So it's not only for the fund that are located 167 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: in the European Union, is for everyone who is marketing 168 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: or advertising selling an e s G are sustainable fund 169 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: in Europe. So it means that even if I'm black 170 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: Rock and I'm selling an e s G fund in 171 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: Europe to European clients, I'll fall into the scope of 172 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: the taxonomy. So Brexit doesn't affect it. One thing that 173 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: Brexit is doing is that the UK is now currently 174 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: discussing its own taxonomy. But that's not the only country 175 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: doing that. She so I'm a little bit confused. So 176 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: Deadline all listed companies above five employees, But is that 177 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,440 Speaker 1: only also within the seventy covered activities will clothing retailers 178 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: be covered? At that point? Or not. Yes, they will 179 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: be covered. And basically either they say that they are 180 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: not covered by the taxonomy or if I am e 181 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: d F and I have my whole nuclear business line. 182 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: In the case of e d F, they just can't 183 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: claim that they can be in any way environmentally sustainable 184 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: for their nuclear business line. But however, the d F 185 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: is also generating electricity from hydropower, so that counts. If 186 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 1: they can pass the threshold, they will be able to 187 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: basically claim taxonomy alignment. Is there anything like this anywhere 188 00:11:48,280 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: else in the world. There is nothing like this anywhere 189 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,679 Speaker 1: else in the world. The more I'm talking with regulators 190 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: and with central bankers, they are waiting for the European 191 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: Union to put this taxonomy out because it's a massive 192 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: game changer. It's going to be something big. It's going 193 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: to be something that can really revolutionize the way we 194 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:18,880 Speaker 1: consider environmentally sustainable activities sustainable finance. So I heard central 195 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: bankers and other regulators thinking about creating their own taxonomy. 196 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: Is For instance, the Hong Kong Steering Group has announced 197 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: last year that they will work on their own taxonomy. 198 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: The UK has said so. It's been also mentioned in Canada. 199 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: The big question will be, for instance, if I'm the 200 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: Canadian government, it's going to be very difficult to to 201 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: completely exclude oil and gas from my taxonomy. So the 202 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: question will be to try to understand if they will 203 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: try to integrate those business activities that are so big 204 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: for for the country but have like very difficult freshold 205 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: to each or if they're just going to exclude it. 206 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: The same with the European Union has done it. Guesses included, 207 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: but under very very strict thresholds. If you don't do 208 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: buy a guess, you'll probably never meet those freshold. Bikes. 209 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: This is a club that you want to be in, though, 210 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: So if you're doing stuff that's not included in theory, 211 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: you're not very happy about that because you want to 212 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: be able to position yourself in this way. Or is 213 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: this instead something where if you are called out and 214 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: you're one of them, you're thinking, oh, this is another 215 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: thing I'm going to have to do. I have to 216 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: comply in order to keep those in the financial community happy. 217 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: Like for some of those companies, they just will have 218 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:43,080 Speaker 1: to comply. And we've seen so far three public reporting 219 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: of taxonomy alignment. One of them was Ana and the 220 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: second one was Speed which is a least known company. 221 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: It's basically an engineering company for network energy and they've 222 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: done their taxonomy reporting. So for actually now working mostly 223 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: in renewables, it was not so much of a challenge. 224 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,080 Speaker 1: But for Speed, for instance, it was much more of 225 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: a challenge because they are also servicing oil and gas 226 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,480 Speaker 1: and and all sorts of different companies. You want to 227 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,840 Speaker 1: be I mean as a as a country, you don't 228 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: want to be a lagger, so you you will have 229 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: to implement something similar to the taxonomy in your own country. 230 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: Because the taxonomy is addressing the threat of greenwashing. It's 231 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: addressing the threat of everyone claiming that they are sustainable. 232 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 1: The taxonomy is nothing less than you know, when we 233 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: started to talk about organic product and you used to 234 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: go to Tesco or sainsbury and seeing everyone calling their 235 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: product organic. We saw a whole range of lexical field 236 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: being used. I struggle with that, by the way, as 237 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: somebody who's looking for green products, I find it very 238 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: frustrating what I've feel like I've been misled, exactly as 239 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: someone who is investing in her pension, I'm sure you 240 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: also find misleading that someone is pretending that a specific 241 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: fund or exchange traded fund is sustainable, right, and then 242 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: you open the fund and you see that maybe the 243 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: fund is like partially invested in oil and gas. I 244 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: find this frustrating as someone who has to choose to 245 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: choose her a punch and fund. So what the taxonomy 246 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: is enabling you to do is to understand, Okay, if 247 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: I take this very strict framework, how much of my 248 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: pension fund is actually invested in green activities? And if 249 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: you're a company, most of them are also willing to 250 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: appeal to those sustainable investor who are not on the 251 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: niche investors anymore. The whole economy is in transition right now. 252 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: Do you think they're going to add additional industry though, 253 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: because you previously mentioned oil and gas, and you know, 254 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: it's kind of easy to throw the baby out with 255 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: the bathwater with that one. But there are several oil 256 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: majors who out there making great strides to pivot their business. 257 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: And what if my values based judgment is an investor says, 258 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: you know what, I want to keep them in because 259 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: they're transitioning, and another person says, no, I don't really 260 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: want them in if they're not in there in the taxonomy, 261 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,480 Speaker 1: are we going to have the transparency that we need 262 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: in order to make those values based judgments. One of 263 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 1: the big criticism that the taxonomy has received it's that 264 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: it's really black and white. It's really manichean. It's either 265 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: you're in or you're out. You can't be transitioning. So 266 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: I think that the same way Marcus was asking at 267 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: the beginning, like if I'm a cloth retailer or I'm 268 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: a cloth manufacturer, how can I claim that I'm environmentally 269 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,320 Speaker 1: sustainable those kind of cases, you could imagine a cloth 270 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:53,560 Speaker 1: manufacturer under certain threshold being able to produce garments in 271 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: a sustainable manner, So those could be added. The technical 272 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: expert group that was sta bleashed back in two thousand 273 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: and eighteen to work on the taxonomy basically has been 274 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: replaced by something called the Platform and Sustainable Finance, and 275 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: that's gonna go on for another two years. You can 276 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: reach out to them if you think that you can 277 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: claim that you're environmentally sustainable and that you're not covered 278 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:24,680 Speaker 1: by the taxonomy, and then they can think about technical 279 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: screening criteria like tests to actually prove that for your 280 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: own activity. So that's the first thing. The second thing 281 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:36,440 Speaker 1: about the criticism around like for instance, oil and gas. Indeed, 282 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,199 Speaker 1: we've covered it as BENF actually that a lot of 283 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: oil and gas companies are currently transitioning. But the reason 284 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:46,679 Speaker 1: why I think the taxonomy is still could appeal to 285 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: them is that if you take the oil and gas 286 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: companies like Shell or BP, which have made climate neutrality pledges, 287 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: they've also started investing in renewable and they've started gen 288 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,440 Speaker 1: racing revenue from renewable. Now, for a very short break, 289 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:09,800 Speaker 1: stay with us. Can we go back to who's really 290 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: pushing for this? As you're talking about it, I keep wondering, 291 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: is it like the EU that it's trying to put 292 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: a regulation in place to to make things more clear. 293 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: Is it investors that want to have sustainable companies they 294 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,199 Speaker 1: can credibly call sustainable that they can invest in, or 295 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,360 Speaker 1: is it companies that want appear attractive to potential investors. 296 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: I think this agenda was first pushed in retail investors 297 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,080 Speaker 1: and investors like us who are investing in pensions, who 298 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: really wanted to know what is sustainable or not so 299 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 1: pension funds. Who's going to be around in forty years? Right? Yeah, 300 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: exactly and fifties About as far as any of us 301 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: can look at right now. Well, unless you're China then 302 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 1: it's twenty sixty, so forty years there. So it's been 303 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: asked by investors because you want to have more transparency 304 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: around sustainable statements, but it's been mostly pushed by regulators, 305 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: like there is currently a consortium between the European Central 306 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 1: Bank with Kristin Nagad and the European Commission with Lan. 307 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,879 Speaker 1: They're really pushing the climate agenda. I'm not sure it 308 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: would have gone as quick if they were not both 309 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: leading the European Commission and the European Central Banks. Let's 310 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,639 Speaker 1: be honest, okay, And who does it benefit most? So 311 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: does it benefit the regulators from having the system in place, 312 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:33,000 Speaker 1: or investors or who it benefits? First retail investor. It 313 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: benefits investors like us, not institutional investors, because we understand 314 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: where we're putting our money. We understand there is real transparency, 315 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: real accountability. We can't just claim to be sustainable. We 316 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: can't just do climate pledges and not have something that 317 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: follows really those statements. So it benefits us, but it 318 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: benefits everyone overall. Because it was really interesting talking with 319 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: the technical expert group and the platform, because I worked 320 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,159 Speaker 1: with them on this report. They were like, achieving carbon 321 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: neutrality by is not going to be an easy task, 322 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: and we need to find a way, a pathway to 323 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,080 Speaker 1: do that. And this is why we need to be 324 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: really clear as the European Union, where we want money 325 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: to go to achieve that goal. And this is who 326 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 1: it's benefiting. So it's basically benefiting us in the future 327 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,639 Speaker 1: generations as well because finance should be used as a 328 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: tool to achieve those goals. This is who it's benefiting, 329 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: and it's bringing clarity to the market. So even if 330 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: at the moment everyone is complaining about the fact that 331 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: the taxonomy reporting will be a tough one to implement, 332 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 1: this is why people are really complaining about it. It's 333 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: benefiting all of us. Is there a dark side though, 334 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: So let's let's get into that a little bit. So 335 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 1: I would love, I would love to believe that it's 336 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,399 Speaker 1: benefiting all of us. So you say it's not easy, 337 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,840 Speaker 1: it's going to be tough to implement, the goals are 338 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: super ambitious. What is the biggest frustration and all of this, 339 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: and I guess I would couple that with like, is 340 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: there a loophole? You know, is there a game stop? 341 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: Style loophole that that could blow this all up. Well, 342 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: I'm kind of biased because I think it's a great standard, 343 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: so I need to say it out like before I 344 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: answer out of like intellectual injury. The biggest frustration I 345 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: hear about the taxonomy is first, it's gonna be really 346 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: tough to implement because the asset managers who are claiming 347 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: that they have sustainable funds, they'll have to report that 348 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:45,119 Speaker 1: data even if they are holding global funds with like 349 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: thousands of names. And the small asset managers, which sometimes 350 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: are really thematic investment manager, so you know, those impact 351 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: funds that we've known forever, they will not necessarily have 352 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: the financial ability to gather this data and to implement 353 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: the taxonomy is going to be tough for them. The 354 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: reason why the European Union decided also to force asset 355 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,959 Speaker 1: manager to disclose that data is because so that they 356 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: can push company to disclose that data. I think that 357 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: by putting asset manager under the mandatory disclosure, they'll push 358 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: companies to do it, and I think they're right, but 359 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: this is one of the main frustration. Second frustration is 360 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: around the Manichean vision of the taxonomy. You're either green 361 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: or you're not. And also to prove your grain, you 362 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: have several step to photo. We're not going to go 363 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: into the details of that today in this webinar, but 364 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,920 Speaker 1: you have several step and several tests to to do 365 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:50,959 Speaker 1: on your economic activity to prove that it's green. So 366 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: it's going to be really difficult to perform. What the 367 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: European Commission is answering to that is that, well, the 368 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: data is gonna buy the iteration in and year after 369 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: year the data is going to be better and we 370 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: need to do it. So you just gotta get started 371 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: regardless exactly. So there's all these other reporting frameworks you 372 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: mentioned that at the top of the show, the TCFD 373 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: sasby if and when the EU Taxonomy comes into play 374 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: and it's successful, what happens to those Do they keep 375 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: going or do they ride often in the sunset or what? Yes, 376 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,480 Speaker 1: we will still need some of those reporting frameworks. The 377 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: taxonomy is answering some of the question, but as we saw, 378 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: is very binary and the same way that you may 379 00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:37,719 Speaker 1: want to report on your environmental social performance as a whole. 380 00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:40,680 Speaker 1: There's going to be other regulation in the European Union 381 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: because actually the taxonomy is part of a bigger group 382 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 1: of regulations, and under the taxonomy you may rely on 383 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:54,160 Speaker 1: other reporting standards to get your data or to perform 384 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: your taxonomy assessment. For instance, under the taxonomy, to prove 385 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: your central contribution to climate change adaptation, you need to 386 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: perform a physical climate risk materiality assessment, So you need 387 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: to see how much you would be impacted by physical 388 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: climate risk, and we knew that TCFD is a very 389 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 1: robust framework to assess that. Therefore, even the Technical Expert 390 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: Group the platform or promoting TCFD or at least listing 391 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: it within the different framework of reporting that could be 392 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: useful for your own taxonomy assessment for instance. So we're 393 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 1: not to the finish line yet, it's not January, and 394 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,159 Speaker 1: between now and then and maybe beyond my what is 395 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: it that you want to know? And how do you 396 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:46,680 Speaker 1: think this is all going to turn out? Is it 397 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,200 Speaker 1: going to end in tears or is it going to 398 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: be something that's going to bring us to some sort 399 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: of sustainable nirvana. I'm being optimistic. I think that the 400 00:24:54,040 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: Taxonomy is really trying to finally cut through all the 401 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: greenwashing threat we've been seeing over the past few years. 402 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: Sustainable investment is gaining an incredible momentum. This year has 403 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: shown record high inflows into environmentally social funds. We've see 404 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,679 Speaker 1: a lot of interest. When I started my career at Bloomberg, 405 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: I was told that sustainable finance was something for millennials 406 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: and women. And I think it's yeah, it was. It's 407 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: growing in interest, it's reaching everyone. The sustainable finance market 408 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,720 Speaker 1: is no more a niche market. It's it's really being 409 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: integrated in in in finance as a whole. And I 410 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,479 Speaker 1: think that what the taxonomy will also achieve is that 411 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,639 Speaker 1: it's going to raise awareness and it's going to bring 412 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: that momentum from just being a trend to become something 413 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,880 Speaker 1: that is part of our social contract as the European 414 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: Union A countries saying that when I'm investing, I should 415 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: not only care about the financial aspect of my investment, 416 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: but I also should also care about the environmental and 417 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: social aspect of my investment. Because the technical what used 418 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 1: to be the technical expert groups of the platform Unstainable Finance, 419 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: is now working on a social taxonomy as well. The 420 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: thing that could be difficult is that how do we 421 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: achieve a fair transition. So if the taxonomy is shedding 422 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,919 Speaker 1: some lights on some green sectors, what do we do 423 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,719 Speaker 1: about all the other sectors that employ thousands of people? 424 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: And I think that it can end up in tears 425 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,639 Speaker 1: if we do not take into account that we're currently 426 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,280 Speaker 1: transitioning and that we need to support that as well, 427 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: which is where I think that SDGs fit in sustainable 428 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,639 Speaker 1: development goals and bringing everyone along with us well. On 429 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: that note, Maya will have to have you back in 430 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: a year to see where we got on with all 431 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: of this. When everything gets implemented, I'm sure it's going 432 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: to be a busy year for a number of reasons, 433 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: but definitely a space to watch. Thank you for joining 434 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: us today. Thank you. Today's episode of Switched On was 435 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: edited by Rex Warner of Grace Stoke Media. Bloomberg an 436 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: e F is a service provided by Bloomberg Finance LP 437 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: and its affiliates. This recording does not constitute, nor it 438 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: should it be construed as investment advice, investment recommendations, or 439 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,679 Speaker 1: recommendation as to an investment or other strategy. Bloomberg an 440 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: e F should not be considered as information sufficient upon 441 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,600 Speaker 1: which to base an investment decision. Neither Bloomberg Finance LP 442 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: nor any of its affiliates, makes any representation or warranty 443 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained 444 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:45,439 Speaker 1: in this recording, and any liability as a result of 445 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: this recording. Did expressly disclaimed