With regulation 2020/852 on “establishing a framework to facilitate sustainable investment”, the European Union has created the world’s first regulated classification system for sustainable finance. The reform has been heralded across the financial world as a new international benchmark for defining what is “green”; and what is not. Although its scope is limited to the European Union, it is likely to become increasingly relevant for issuers of emerging market securities in the future.

In the more immediate term, it is of particular interest to green bond pioneers, such as public development banks and sovereign issuers, who have their eyes on European investors. The EU Taxonomy has also inspired governments around the world in their own efforts to develop national taxonomies for sustainable finance, including emerging economies in Latin America and elsewhere. To foster the exchange and updating of policy developments around sustainable finance, the EU created the “International Sustainable Finance Platform”.

The Latin American Association of Development Finance Institutions (ALIDE) and the German Development Bank KfW invite you to learn more about the EU Taxonomy and to discuss the possible implications for Latin America and the Caribbean.