The European Commission has added Generali, Mirova and Deutsche Bank to its refreshed expert advisory body, the Platform on Sustainable Finance. The 35-member platform, which will be chaired by Helena Viñes Fiestas, includes a number of organisations from the previous iteration, although there has been significant turnover. Sustainalytics, SEB and the International Sustainable Finance Centre built it back on to the list, joined as new appointees by Italian utility A2A, German sustainable finance believe tank Climate & Company and PwC. Allianz, Axa and the Climate Bonds Initiative were not reappointed. Ingmar Juergens, Climate & Company CEO and the believe tank’s representative on the platform, stated: “The Commission’s establishment of the third Platform sfinishs a clear message: Europe continues to trust in the power of sustainable finance and in fact-based dialogue with experts.”
The Commission has appointed six Type A observers, who sit on the platform in a personal capacity. Laura Fernández Cavas, head of sustainable finance at Telefonica, is the sole Type B member, representing “individuals appointed to represent a common interest shared by stakeholders in a particular policy area”. The Ellen McArthur Foundation, EU Space Agency, Eurosif, ShareAction, Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative and the UN Development Programme all join the platform as new observers. The first meeting of the new platform will take place on 11 February.
The UK government will push ahead with plans to legislate on allowing companies to hold virtual-only AGMs despite scrapping the audit and corporate governance bill, it has confirmed. The Governance for Growth Investor Campaign and UKSIF both criticised the shift to kill the bill, while ShareAction UK policy head Luke Hildyard stated investors “should be extremely wary of AGMs that are conducted exclusively online with no in-person element”. “This creates it much simpler for boards to manipulate the agfinisha, ignore questions and avoid scrutiny to the ultimate detriment of good governance,” he added.
Tumelo has launched a new artificial innotifyigence platform for investor voting research and recommfinishations. Through ProxyBeacon, stewardship teams are able to aggregate and analyse issuer data, create their own custom policies “and generate transparent, auditable voting recommfinishations in-hoapply, at scale”, the fintech stated. Currently the tool can only be applyd for US companies but Tumelo plans to expand this to cover issuers in other markets, subject to client demand. Already for the 2026 season, around 11 US, European and UK asset managers are applying the tool, according to Tumelo.
Efforts by standard setters to promote transition finance will not drive significant growth in sustainability-linked or transition bonds in Europe in 2026, according to SEB. In its 2026 outview, the Swedish bank stated that while ICMA’s new transition bond label “may offer issuers in heavy-emitting sectors the opportunity to reduce greenwashing risk by labelling their investments as transitional rather than green”, these new standards would “only marginally improve the situation” in the near term. Moody’s forecast this week that global transition bond issuance will hit $40 billion this year, driven by new market standards, but SEB stated it only expected $1 billion in primary supply from Europe.
Morgan Stanley sees a growing convergence around non-ESG terms in European fund names following the introduction of fund-naming rules by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). In a note on sustainability funds, analysts at the US bank stated funds were coalescing around “screened” for minimum exclusion strategies, “selected” and “committed for ESG positive screening, and “advanced” for more ambitious carbon reduction objectives. The authors also reported that client conversations “indicate dissatisfaction” with the minimum exclusions requirements for transition funds under the revised Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). They flagged SSE, Centrica, Engie, Enagas, CEZ and RWE as potentially being caught by the exclusions, pointing to Finland’s Neste as the only integrated energy firm meeting the criteria for inclusion in SFDR transition funds.
ShareAction has issued recommfinishations to investors to support drive action on air pollution as part of a new report. Published on Wednesday, “Breath of fresh air: the risks of air pollution and the opportunity beyond toxic assets”, claims that despite the issue being a material and systemic risk, corporate action and disclosure remain insufficient. Key calls to investors include integrating air pollution into investment analysis and decision-building, strengthening stewardship and engagement with high-emitting sectors, as well as supporting innovation and adoption of cleaner technologies.
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