C 27/4
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
19.1.2022
III (Preparatory acts)
EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK OPINION OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK of 5 November 2021 on a proposal for a regulation on European green bonds (CON/2021/30) (2022/C 27/04)
Introduction and legal basis On 14 October 2021 the European Central Bank (ECB) received a request from the European Parliament for an opinion on a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on European green bonds (1) (hereinafter the ‘proposed regulation’).
The ECB’s competence to deliver an opinion is based on Articles 127(4) and 282(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, since the proposed regulation contains provisions falling within the ECB’s fields of competence, including, in particular, the implementation of monetary policy pursuant to the first indent of Article 127(2) and Article 282(1) of the Treaty, the prudential supervision of credit institutions pursuant to Article 127(6) of the Treaty and the contribution to the smooth conduct of policies pursued by competent authorities relating to the stability of the financial system pursuant to Article 127(5) of the Treaty.
In accordance with the first sentence of Article 17.5 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Central Bank, the Governing Council has adopted this opinion.
1.
General observations
1.1
The ECB welcomes the proposed regulation.
The attainment of the objectives laid out in the European Green Deal and in the Paris Agreement and enshrined in Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘European Climate Law’) (2) require significant investment, a substantial part of which will need to come from the private sector (3).
Sustainable finance can play an important role in this respect by enabling investors to identify environmentally sustainable investments and adjust their portfolios according to their own sustainability preferences.
Among sustainable finance products, green bonds represent a rapidly growing and highly visible segment: further growth in the market for high-transparency green bonds has significant potential to help fill the sustainable investment gap and to meet the growing demand of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investors.
For this purpose, a clear and reliable public framework for green bonds is welcomed.
1.2
In the overall context of the Union’s environmental objectives, in the event that public policies are adopted at Union or Member State level that favour green bonds and other sustainability-based debt over other kinds of debt issuance, these would also require a European green bond standard (EuGB) to which they can refer.
(1) COM(2021) 391 final.
(2) Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (‘European Climate Law’) (OJ L 243, 9.7.2021, p. 1).
(3) See also the explanatory memorandum to the proposed regulation.