What are the latest sustainability developments and challenges in Europe?

At the Ethical Finance Global 2024 summit in Edinburgh, our director Julie Malzac took part in a roundtable discussing the regulatory framework in the EU, significant variations in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) performance across European countries, and the opportunity to balance sustainability and profitability through the sustainable debt market.

Organised by Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), the summit brings together speakers from around the world each year to discuss climate, nature and innovation in sustainable finance .

Commenting on the topic, Julie said: “While Europe’s sustainability landscape has changed significantly under regulatory and investor pressure, there is still a substantial investment gap to fully achieve the SDGs. Innovative financial instruments like green and sustainability-linked bonds offer a pathway to align sustainability with profitability, potentially unlocking vast private capital.”