The European Union (EU) is working on rules for a more sustainable financial sector and ways to finance ecological transition. The European Commission is asking for your input and set up a public consultation that will close on 15 July. Providing that finance is still heavily oriented toward polluting activities and that finance and industry lobbies are really good at using this type of consultation, it is crucial that as many citizens as possible contribute. Here is your chance to join the debate and push Europe to “green” its finance! What do you as European citizen want?
With Change Finance, we wanted to provide you with a model contribution that will help you respond.
Why should you participate?
- Without money, it’s very hard to get things done in our world. If we want our economy and lives to be more sustainable, greener, climate friendly and people-friendly, we need money. And banks and investors are the only ones now that can provide that money. But as long as one can make much more money with non-sustainable investments that harm people and planet, any change will be much harder.
- Unlike powerful companies, citizens have great difficulties to be heard at the European level. The consultation is an opportunity to express yourself on an issue where financial and economic actors usually hold all the cards.
How can you contribute?
The consultation may look intimidating but you only need to answer the first 5 questions to make a real difference!
Follow these steps to respond:
- Go to this address.
- Click on “Register”.
- Fill in the information required and click on create an account.
- Now your account is set up and you can participate in the consultation.
- Fill in your details (Section: About you).
- Answer the 5 questions of Section I (Section I: Questions addressed to all stakeholders), you can use our model contribution.
- Go directly to the end, without answering the rest of the questions, by clicking on “Additional information”.
- Click on submit your answer.
If you use our template, answering the consultation should not take more than 10 minutes! Of course, we encourage you to make your own comments and adapt your contribution and – if you have time and expertise – feel free to answer the rest of the questions.
If you use our model contribution, you will be pushing the European Commission to set up:
- A clear definition of activities that significantly contribute to climate change (“brown taxonomy”) that will help divest from sectors and activities incompatible with the ecological transition.
- The creation of a “social taxonomy”, to identify socially harmful activities and make sure financial actors also consider the social and human rights impacts their decisions have.
- More transparency on financial transaction and products with an improved, reliable and compulsory disclosure and reporting.
- Strong legal obligations – and not a mere voluntary framework – to finance sustainable activities, in the EU and beyond, and the implementation of these future legal standards to all financial actors (banks, investors, insurances) including public ones (i.e European Central Bank).
Link to our model contribution