Dear Reader,
As we wrap up the year, we would like to reflect on some of the progress, challenges, and efforts that have shaped the sustainable finance journey and the LSFI role.
Some of the challenges that have marked 2022 have put the need to transition towards sustainability at the forefront of the agenda of policymakers, corporates, financial institutions and civil society. For example, considering that Europe will need an estimated EUR 350 billion in additional investment per year over this decade to meet its 2030 emissions-reduction target in energy systems alone[1], the financial sector and, thus, sustainable finance have a key role to play in this transition.
As such, over the last year, the sustainable finance agenda has undergone considerable development, for instance in areas such as regulation (e.g., the EU Taxonomy for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation came into force in January and the MiFID II application date started in August) or increased commitments from several financial players towards net-zero, among others. Going forward, these efforts would have to continue in order for sustainable finance to become the new norm.
The LSFI has at its core raising awareness and helping the financial sector in this transition towards sustainability. Aiming to do so, in 2022, we have centred our efforts on implementing the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Strategy Action Plan by consolidating and launching some landmark activities. In particular, we set up the LSFI Stakeholder Assembly to foster dialogue and increase collaboration among the actors involved; we launched a cross-sectoral working group on the field of sustainable finance education; we co-organised the first Luxembourg sustainable finance survey among the general public, and we conducted a study on sustainable finance in Luxembourg.
We are delighted to have embarked on and developed these projects, and we thank all our stakeholders, the LSFI team and the LSFI board members for their support and collaboration. Sustainable finance is a shared journey where cooperation among all the different actors involved is and will be central.
Next year, our objective will be to continue working across our three pillars of action (raising awareness, unlocking potential and measuring progress), consolidating our current activities as well as launching new ones, such as additional working groups and further developing our website toolkit “Take Action”, aiming to strengthen and consolidate our mission.
We look forward to working with you all towards advancing sustainable finance in 2023!
We wish you a joyful festive season and an excellent and sustainable new year!
The LSFI team
