Our strategic solutions support asset owners, asset managers, fund managers, lenders, and issuers in the identification and integration of sustainability risks and opportunities in their investment and green bond decision making and verification.
An entity may choose to adopt different investment strategies to achieve its sustainability goals. These may include aligning investments with ESG factors, the EU Taxonomy and other international taxonomies, as well as meeting compliance requirements such as those of the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and other international frameworks.
ELS Europe’s team continually monitors the international landscape of sustainable finance regulation and investment drivers in the context of our clients’ needs and challenges. We help clients build consistent sustainable investment strategies across jurisdictions, sectoral activities, companies and assets. Our expertise helps redefine and adapt internal processes and systems which are at the core of our clients’ operations.
Our strategic solutions include as examples:
Due diligence review of available documentation and disclosures.
Assistance with asset characterisation and sustainability-related exposures.
Assessment of eligibility and alignment with international sustainability taxonomies, prevalent regulation, and other relevant ESG criteria.
Engagement with operators to contribute to sustainability objectives and technical screening criteria.
Evaluation of issuer sustainability-related activities and conduct of Second Party Opinion.
Assessment of market perspectives through stakeholder surveys.
ELS Europe provides leadership, strategic guidance and advice on a range of cross-sectoral projects. Examples of our work:
European Court Auditors
ELS Europe shared insights with the European Court of Auditors on the Audit on Sustainable Finance: More consistent EU action needed to redirect finance towards sustainable investment. Questions addressed by ELS Europe concerned matters of EU policy needed to mobilise private sustainable investment, lessons learned from use of public budget guarantees, and the importance of the European Investment Bank and EU instruments for mobilising private investment in the EU.
International Sustainability Toolkit
ELS Europe was an external contributor to the World Bank’s International ‘Toolkit for Policymakers to green the Financial System’ providing insights on practical application of successful approaches to taxonomy development and their implementation. The World Bank works with government policy makers, regulators, central banks, and supervisors in implementing reforms to build a sustainable financial system. The aim of the report was to provide a comprehensive overview of the range of approaches that public authorities could take to promote green finance and manage climate-related and environmental risks.
Issuer
ELS Europe assisted an international bank at pre-issuance stage in preparation for a Second Party Opinion (SPO) for sustainability-linked bond issuance in accordance with the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Green Bond Programme. The deliverable included a summary report with recommendations for additional information necessary for a diligent and comprehensive SPO stage.
Investment Firm
On behalf of an investment firm with approximately €200 billion EUR AUM, ELS Europe completed a technical and strategic analysis of an investee’s potential alignment with the EU Taxonomy technical screening criteria, outlining potential future strategic EU Taxonomy alignment opportunities for the company. The independent analysis facilitated the identification of strategic issues for consideration by the investor and culminated in the preparation and delivery of a Strategic Analysis Report.
