The Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (SFDR), which the EU passed in 2019, resulted in a “seismic shift” for impact investment funds and their investees. At the closing plenary of European Microfinance Week 2023, Emmanuelle Javoy of Switzerland-based investor Symbiotics explained her firm’s response to SFDR. The company invested a large amount of resources to review the sustainability objectives of each of its 25 funds.
Jurgen Hammer of the Social Performance Task Force, a US-based NGO, described how investors didn’t realize right away that they were better off working with their competitors to (partially) harmonize this work. Among the reasons to do so is that many of these impact investors support (and periodically demand data from) the same microlenders.
David Muthire Njiru of the Kenyan microlender Juhudi Kilimo described having plenty of good results to share from his firm’s lending for products such as efficient cookstoves and biogas digesters. However, he said it is very challenging for small institutions to report on a wide range of metrics, especially when the requests from different investors vary widely.
The panelists agreed that regulations should be proportional, such as by allowing looser requirements for lenders to industries that carry less risk of pollution.
This report is the last in a sponsored series on European Microfinance Week 2023, which took place in Luxembourg from November 15 to 17. MicroCapital has been engaged to promote and report on the event each year since 2012. You may learn more about European Microfinance Week at https://www.emw2023.eu/.
Additional Resources
EU review of SFDR
https://www.esma.europa.eu/press-news/consultations/joint-consultation-review-sfdr-delegated-regulation
European Microfinance Week 2023 homepage
https://www.emw2023.eu/
MicroCapital coverage of European Microfinance Week since 2012, including the European Microfinance Award
https://www.microcapital.org/category/european-microfinance-week/
Similar Posts:
- SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week 2023 Opens With Action Group Meetings, Including Investors Sharing Strategies for Measuring Social Performance #EMW2023
- SPECIAL REPORT: Yikri of Burkina Faso Wins $110k European Microfinance Award for Progress Toward Food Security #EMW2023
- SPECIAL REPORT: Nurturing Young Entrepreneurs with Revenue-based Repayments, Accounting Apps, Bank Guarantees
- SPECIAL REPORT: Green Action Group Celebrates 10th Anniversary at European Microfinance Week #EMW2023
- SPECIAL REPORT: The Business Case for Education Finance #EMW2023
