El Kurdi, Y. C. (2022). EU taxonomy make or break: the case of VERBUND’s Green & sustainability-linked bond [Master Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2022.103422
EU Taxonomy; Green & Sustainability-linked Bonds; Green Financing; IFC Performance Standards
en
Abstract:
We are slowly arriving towards destructive tipping points, hence why today we all have a responsibility towards protecting our earth for us and the future generations. International efforts have taken place towards encouraging countries to limit their carbon emissions and thus limit global warming. The OECD estimates that, globally, EUR 6.35 trillion a year will be required to meet Paris Agreement goals by 2030. As a result, gathering financial resources from the public sector will not be enough to meet the objectives set. In order to witness substantial change, other players must contribute as well to gather private and institutional capital. Consequently, several sustainability assessments told worldwide have been developed in order to define which investments can actually be considered “green”. The EU is a classification system that selects economic activities and sectors based on their impact on environmental objectives. It establishes clear requirements for each economic activity called a technical screening criterion based on science-based criteria. It also requires that the economic activities respect minimum social safeguards. VERBUND, Austria’s largest utility company aims to be a market leader in finance will allocate “VERBUND bonds”, to eligible green projects aligned with the EU Taxonomy. Through researching and studying the EU policy reports and the report by the EU Taxonomy Technical Expert Group as well as doing a case study with VERBUND and discussing with EU Taxonomy expert, this thesis examines the state of art of the EU taxonomy and its impact on project developers and finds that the EU taxonomy is pivotal tool to long term transformation to a more sustainable by redirecting financial flows to green projects by becoming a green recognized green approval stamp and defining what constitutes a sustainable project. Moreover, it created an environment of trust and transparency for investors and the market. However, it does face obstacles especially when it comes to the way it is being communicated and the rigorous mandatory process needed to describe an economic activity as being aligned. Additionally, the fact that it is still a work of progress makes it difficult to compare to other international assessment tools such as the IFC Performance Standards that have been dominating for years.