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The European Commission recently hosted a workshop on "Financing the transition to a climate-neutral economy" with the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance to discuss the uptake of the EU sustainable finance framework and to present the Platform’s latest work. The workshop kicked off with a keynote speech by Alexandra Jour-Schroeder, Deputy Director General at DG FISMA, who said: “The EU Taxonomy is being used by companies as a tool for business strategy, transition planning, and reporting. In short, it is being used as a yardstick for showcasing corporate sustainability efforts, as it was designed to be.” The current state of adoption of the EU Taxonomy, and the broader sustainable finance framework, was then discussed during the first session of the day. As part of the event, representatives of the Platform on Sustainable Finance also shared insights from their Compendium of Market Practices – published in January – that provides use-cases for how the market has been picking up the EU’s sustainable finance toolkit. Helena Viñes Fiestas, the Platform Chair, recalled that the Platform re-adjusted its priorities according to the challenges raised by companies, financial institutions and other stakeholders and reiterated the Platform’s commitment to addressing them: “Our effort is focusing on the usability of the Do No Significant Harm criteria and enabling better access to finance for SMEs.” Another panel addressed the Platform’s recently published intermediate report on monitoring capital flows, which proposes a methodology to measure the effective contribution of finance towards the objectives of the European Green Deal. A panel discussion on transition finance focused on the potential of the existing framework for transition finance and planning. It highlighted the significance of capital expenditure (CapEx) for guiding the transition, the importance of capacity building for adaptation, and the need to prioritise the just transition and environmental objectives for achieving net-zero objectives by 2050. In his closing remarks, Martin Špolc, head of the sustainable finance unit at DG FISMA, emphasised: “We have seen evidence that those who seriously want to engage with sustainable finance and transition finance find the right entry points to do so. Their efforts are to be applauded and should inspire those still sitting on the sideline and considering whether and when to enter the game.” You can watch the event recording here: https://lnkd.in/eBerKEqf You can also read the opening remarks of Alexandra Jour-Schroeder and Helena Viñes Fiestas here: https://lnkd.in/ea6nsns4 You can have a look at the latest reports of the Platform on Sustainable Finance here: https://lnkd.in/e5puSSjR