The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions today published its report on Sustainable Finance and the Role of Securities Regulators and IOSCO, which seeks to help market participants address issues related to sustainability and climate change. The Sustainable Finance Network of IOSCO (SFN) prepared the report, which highlights three recurring themes that involve multiple and diverse sustainability frameworks and standards, including sustainability-related disclosure, a lack of common definitions of sustainable activities, and greenwashing and other challenges to investor protection. The report indicates that many issuers and asset managers operating cross border may be subject to different regulatory regimes or participate in multiple regional or international thirdparty initiatives. This wide variety of regulatory regimes and initiatives, often with inconsistent objectives and requirements, may prevent stakeholders from fully understanding the risks and opportunities that sustainable business activities entail.
To inform its work, the SFN drew on a survey of the initiatives planned or undertaken by securities regulators and market participants to address the opportunities and challenges posed by sustainable finance. In reaching its conclusions, it also considered the discussion at its Stakeholders Meeting in June 2019 and the findings of the IOSCO Growth and Emerging Market Committee 2019 report on Sustainable finance in emerging markets and the role of securities regulators and the 2019 IOSCO Statement on Disclosure of ESG Matters by Issuers.