The state of the art of European legislation aimed at defining the legislative framework for sustainable investment is certainly the most advanced and defined in the global landscape at present.
While it is true that today ESG issues—Environmental, Social, and Governance characteristics inherent in every type of business—are increasingly high on the agendas of major organizations' boards, the carbon footprint remains one of the most important concerns in the field of sustainability.
When someone, for the first time, meets the word "Taxonomy," generally comes up against a wall, imagining a complex structure that only professionals of the sector can decipher.
It is now widely believed that the investment evaluation paradigm has undergone a profound evolution, over the past two centuries.
In the new framework defined by the European Taxonomy, with regard to the rules and objectives for classifying business activities that are considered environmentally, socially, and governance sustainable, a prominent point much discussed at the moment, especially in the financial world, is covered by Article 8 of the Taxonomy.
ESG criteria chart the course for sustainable transition in both the b2b world, from SMEs and large corporations to the world of finance.
Measuring sustainability performances is becoming increasingly important for both large corporations and SMEs. On one hand, obtaining ESG certification opens several business opportunities for companies, relating to funding, partnerships and service offering. On the other hand, measuring ESG performances can be a difficult journey, especially for SMEs which, however, cannot back down from this challenge. The European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), in fact, has extended the obligation to produce a sustainability report also to SMEs listed on one of the Member States' markets.