In a speech during a plenary debate at the European Parliament on a Report on European Green Bonds, former Prime Minister Alfred Sant noted that the market of retail and institutional investors that gives preference green offerings is becoming substantial and is expected to grow. Against this backdrop, he emphasized that it is imperative to create transparent and trustworthy conditions within which the market that is developing can progress.
“I come from a region where infrastructures, businesses and private property are already subject to the financial risks and damages being caused by climate change. We need sustained public and private investments able to contain these risks and reverse the damages”, Sant stressed.
Green bonds are debt securities designed specifically to support climate and environmental projects. In July 2021, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation on a voluntary European green bond standard. This proposal aligns with the European Union’s taxonomy, ensuring that companies utilizing the European Green Bond standard must demonstrate that their projects meet specific sustainability criteria.
Labour MEP Alfred Sant acknowledged that the European regulation is one step in the right direction that needs to cover the whole range of investment and financial dealings. However, he noted that there are and will be areas of application whose scope will be ambiguous at first. These ambiguous areas will have to be cleared through reasonable compromise, he said.
Sant acclaimed the motive behind the regulation of prioritizing the placing of environmental, social and governance factors at the heart of financial markets with a gold standard for green bonds. To this end, he voted in favour.
The Report was adopted with 418 votes in favour, 79 votes against and 72 abstentions.