The European Union strongly supports the transition to a low-carbon, more resource-efficient and sustainable economy and has been at the forefront of efforts to build a financial system that supports sustainable growth.

In December 2019, the European Commission presented the European green deal a growth strategy aiming to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. As part of the green deal, the Commission presented in January 2020 the European green deal investment plan, which will mobilise at least €1 trillion of sustainable investments over the next decade. 

In July 2021 the Commission published its ‘strategy for financing the transition to a sustainable economy‘. The new strategy will consider extending the EU taxonomy framework and sustainable finance standards and labels to recognise transition efforts. It stresses the importance of inclusion to support small and medium-sized enterprises, individuals and the real economy on the path to sustainability. It does this by providing the right tools and incentives to access transition finance, and also by exploring how to exploit the opportunities digital technologies offer for sustainable finance.