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Workshop on EU Paris-aligned and EU Climate Transition benchmarks

Taking stock of the 4 year-contribution of the two EU climate benchmark labels in redirecting finance flows towards sustainable investments. 

EU Paris-aligned and EU Climate Transition benchmarks workshop 17 October 2024

The aim of the event was to hold a general exchange on the successes and shortcomings of the EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and EU Climate Transition Benchmarks, which entered into application four years ago. The event offered the chance to explore opportunities to improve the regulatory framework to foster the use of these benchmark labels, in order to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy and help align investment strategies with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The event aimed to bring together different categories of stakeholders, such as benchmark administrators, asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies and academia. The focus was on gathering insights about the role that EU Paris-aligned Benchmarks and EU Climate Transition Benchmarks played in promoting sustainable investments, whether these labels helped promote best practices outside the EU and looking at the key challenges in designing these indices or in terms of performance (e.g. tracking error compared to parent indices).

Specific privacy statement

  • 17 OCTOBER 2024
Specific privacy statement: Workshop on EU Paris-aligned and EU climate transition benchmarks

Recording

Watch the recording of the event

  • financial services | sustainable finance | capital markets union
  • Thursday 17 October 2024, 09:00 - 12:45 (CEST)
  • Brussels, Belgium

Programme

  1. 17 Oct 2024, 09:00 - 09:15 (CEST)
    Registration and coffee
  2. 09:15 - 09:30 (CEST)
    Opening remarks

    By Martin Merlin, Financial Markets Director, Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. (DG FISMA).

  3. 09:30 - 10:30 (CEST)
    Panel 1: EU Paris-aligned and EU Climate Transition benchmarks: : an effective guide for investors in the path towards the alignment with Paris Agreement objectives or on the implementation of their transition strategies?

    This panel explored the role that EU Paris-aligned and EU Climate Transition benchmarks played for investors in aligning their strategies with sustainable investments and whether those labels met benchmark administrators’ objectives, such as to make Paris-aligned investment strategies or the transition to a low carbon economy more credible and accessible.

    Moderator

    • Didier Millerot (Head of Unit FISMA B2 – Sustainable Finance)

    Speakers

    • Kristian Hartelius (Head of quantitative dynamic allocation, AP2)
    • Lucas Kengmana (Senior investment strategist, New Zealand Super Fund)
    • Anoushka Babbar (Head of sustainable investment, Index policy, LSEG)
    • Peter Diehl (Head of product development, Solactive) 
    • Bryan Coughland (BEUC, Lead economist)
  4. 10:30 - 10:45 (CEST)
    Q&A
  5. 10:45 - 11:15 (CEST)
    Coffee break
  6. 11:15 - 12:15 (CEST)
    Panel 2: Taking stock of four years of application: implementing the standards and potential avenue for improvement

    This panel explored the main challenges in designing EU Paris-aligned and EU Climate Transition benchmarks and consider possible improvements in order to make those labels more attractive and usable, especially in conjunction with other pieces of EU sustainable finance legislation.

    Moderator

    • Agnès Le Thiec, (Deputy Head of Unit FISMA C3 – Securities Markets)

    Speakers

    • Michiel De Smet (Sustainable & responsible investment team, Market operations Expert, ECB)
    • Valentina Ramirez  (Head of climate strategy implementation, IIGCC)
    • Andreas Höpner (Head of the data science hub, EC Platform on Sustainable Finance, and former member of the TEG benchmarks subgroup)
    • Alexander Dorbrinevski (Executive director, MSCI Deutschland GmbH)
    • Lorraine Sereyjol-Garros (Global Head of ETF & Index Business Development at BNP Paribas Asset Management)
  7. 12:15 - 12:30 (CEST)
    Q&A
  8. 12:30 - 12:45 (CEST)
    Concluding remarks

    Agnès Le Thiec, Deputy Head of Unit of the Securities Markets (Unit C3), Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. (DG FISMA).

Practical information

When
Thursday 17 October 2024, 09:00 - 12:45 (CEST)
Where
Thierry Stoll
Rue de Spa 2, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Languages
English