Sustainable Finance Action Plan

The Sustainable Finance Action Plan is not just another piece of EU regulation. It will completely shake up sustainable investing across the 27-nation European Union and create a level playing field for how funds are classified.

Our stories and policies explain how this will all work in the years to come.

Introducing the Sustainable Finance Action Plan

The epic production that is the EU’s Sustainable Finance Action Plan, and its key component, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, aims to direct trillions of euros into sustainable investing. It will also show people exactly how sustainable an investment strategy is, combatting greenwashing.

The new regulatory framework can be an alphabet soup of acronyms such as the SFAP and SFDR, along with newly introduced concepts such as the EU Taxonomy and European Green Deal. Our Glossary of Sustainable Investing explains the main ingredients in simple language, with graphics and charts in places.

Glossary of SI

Results of EU fund classification reflect sustainability of Robeco’s fund range

The Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation forces asset managers to disclose the level of sustainability integration for their different strategies.
Almost all of Robeco’s funds are aligned to Article 8 or 9 of the EU’s new sustainability regulations.

More information on the classifications can be found in the documents section of our Fund Selector.

Fund selector

96% of our funds classify as Article 8 or 9

96% of our funds classify as Article 8 or 9

Source: Robeco, January 2022

Sustainability risk and integration

No investment is without risk: the skill is to manage that risk by using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in the investment process. This chapter explains how the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation will require asset managers to show how they integrate sustainability risks in policies, procedures and governance structures throughout their entire organization.

Read more Sustainability Risk Policy

The EU Taxonomy

Everyone agrees that sustainable investing is the way forward, as the world faces diminishing resources and climate change. But not everyone agrees on how to define it. The EU Taxonomy sets out the criteria for what is environmentally sustainable, using six objectives that will apply across the bloc. Here we explain the meaning of greening, and how it affects investments at Robeco.

Read more

The implementation timeline

December 2019

  • Publication of EU SFDR Level 1 requirements

March 2021

  • Categorization of funds

  • Update legal fund documents

  • Publish policies incl. on sustainability risk and principle adverse impact statement

1 January 2022

  • Annual report requirements

  • Report on first Taxonomy compliant investments per fund

  • Expected application of SFDR Level 2 requirements

1 January 2023

  • Report on adverse sustainability impact at fund level

  • Report on additional Taxonomy compliant investments per fund

Source: Robeco

Assessing adverse impact indicators

Just as no sustainable investment is without risks, all companies make an impact on the environment, both good and bad. The regulation requires both companies and asset managers at the entity and financial product level to lay out their Principal Adverse Impact indicators. Bureaucracy, or a refreshing step forward? Our story explains how it will certainly enhance transparency.

Read more Principal Adverse Impact Statement

Assessing adverse impact indicators