EU rules on sustainability reporting - A study of the initiatives regarding transparency and disclosure from a Swedish perspective

Sammanfattning: Making Europe climate neutral by 2050 is the primary goal of the European Green Deal. This goal has given rise to sustainable finance and action plans for financing sustainable growth. Such commitment is ensured by the legal initiatives put forward by the Commission. The Non-Financial Reporting Directive introduced the requirements for some firms to produce a sustainability report based on disclosing information in accordance with the recommendations drawn up by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Following the directive, the Commission presented two regulations. This thesis aims to shed light on the legislative acts adopted by the Commission while viewing the acts from a Swedish point of view. The Disclosure Regulation covers how financial market participants integrate sustainability in their processes while also regulating how the information should be disclosed. In June 2020, the Taxonomy Regulation was adopted, containing information regarding determining what criteria to review when stating that economic activity should be considered environmentally sustainable. To further improve the sustainability reporting for companies, the Commission adopted a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, aiming to amend and extend the existing reporting requirements. Finansinspektionen is currently playing a role in implementing, adapting, and informing the financial market on the new legalities regarding sustainability reporting from a Swedish perspective. Finansinspektionen further suggests tools for affected actors to mitigate and manage the risk of current and future legislation.