Eurosif Launches Strategy Review In Light Of ESG Regulatory Changes

Eurosif, the Brussels-based pan-European sustainable investment organisation, has launched a strategic review to inform its future mandate, including how to best support implementation of EU sustainable finance measures, it announced today.

The review was to cover “strategy governance”, organisational structure, membership, mission and objectives, and was expected to conclude by the end of April, Eurosif said in a statement.

“Over the past two years, there have been significant advances in the development of a world-leading sustainable investment policy and regulatory framework driven by the European Commission,” the group said.

Eurosif said the strategic review would help the organisation decide how best to support implementation of the EU’s sustainable finance measures at the national level, which presented challenges and opportunities.

“The board’s view is that these opportunities lie primarily with the member SIFs, but also include other varied legitimate interests including from the finance industry, civil society, NGOs and academia,” it said.

The review is being carried out by Eurosif’s board with the help of Thierry Philipponnat, former chairman of the French Sustainable Investment Forum (FIR) and former head of civil society organisation Finance Watch.

He is currently the director of Institut Friedland, an economics think tank, and a member of the board of the French financial markets supervisor, AMF.

Will Oulton, chairman of Eurosif – and head of responsible investment at First State Investments – said: “Thierry’s track record and extensive industry experience, including with Eurosif, make him the ideal person to assist the board in developing a strategy to identify the future opportunities for Eurosif to enable it to continue to play a leading role in influencing industry policy and practice.”

The decision to carry out the review was taken at a December board meeting.

Flavia Micilotta, Eurosif’s executive director since 2015, left the organisation earlier this month to take up a new role as the director of Luxembourg Green Exchange, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange’s sustainable development platform. She was a member of the High Level Expert Group that advised the European Commission on the development of its sustainable finance strategy.

Micilotta was also appointed to EIOPA’s pensions stakeholder group as a representative of Eurosif.