EMEA Sustainability "Sustainability Brief vol. 12" Fruitiere

Research evidence excerpt

EMEA Sustainability "Sustainability Brief vol. 12" Fruitiere

hat while exclusions can be an important risk management and

signalling tool, achieving economy-wide decarbonisation will require significant

capital investment from some of today's highest-emitting sectors. From this

perspective, ensuring that companies with credible transition plans retain access to

capital is equally important to reducing exposure to carbon-intensive activities. The

discussion reflects a broader industry debate around the role of transition finance

and how investors can balance credibility, sustainability objectives and real-world

decarbonisation outcomes. It also links closely to the ongoing SFDR review, where

market participants are increasingly focused on whether future sustainability

frameworks will provide sufficient flexibility to support companies undertaking

credible transition pathways while maintaining robust safeguards against

greenwashing.

EU ETS and industrial competitiveness: Investors focus on the next phase of

the carbon market: Discussions on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) have

intensified following Member States' approval of the updated benchmarks for

2026–2030. Investors generally viewed the outcome as providing continuity rather

than a significant tightening of the framework, with the overall free allocation

mechanism remaining largely intact. However, attention is increasingly shifting

towards the upcoming ETS review and its implications for European industrial

sectors. Investors highlighted that the carbon market is becoming a more

important driver of capital allocation decisions across energy-intensive industries,

including steel, cement, chemicals and refining. A key question is how

policymakers will balance decarbonisation incentives with industrial