- Chief Financial Officers of over 30 companies from around the world developed first principles for Sustainable Finance backed by the United Nations
Markus Krebber, Chief Financial Officer of RWE AG: “The transformation towards a sustainable economy is a global challenge. The speed of this transformation is crucial. It depends on the broad mobilisation of all available resources. This is precisely where the UN Global Compact CFO Task Force for the Sustainable Development Goals comes in. With its principles, it defines a clear framework and will set ambitious goals. We at RWE strongly support this. As one of the world’s leading companies for renewable energies, we are fully committed to driving the decarbonisation of the energy sector. Our multi-billion euro investments in renewable technologies are the key to achieving our goal of being carbon neutral by 2040. ”
The UN Global Compact CFO Taskforce launched the first integrated, UN-backed principles for integrated SDG Finance and Investment. RWE is a founding member of the CFO Taskforce which is a network of Chief Financial Officers of over 30 companies from around the world, brought together to tackle the challenge of sustainability and to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In consultation with more than 100 stakeholders worldwide, the CFO Taskforce has developed a set of principles. These principles seek to guide companies in aligning their sustainability commitments with credible corporate finance strategies to create real-world impact on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Members of the UN Global CFO Taskforce pinpointed four key areas that are relatively underserved but critical for SDG-aligned investments: SDG impact and measurement, integrated SDG strategy and investments, integrated corporate SDG Finance as well as integrated SDG communication and reporting. The goal is to work with the investment value chain, including investors, banks, development finance institutions, credit ratings agencies and sustainability assessment firms to create a broad, liquid and efficient market for SDG investments and capital flows. Detailed information on the CFO Principles for Integrated SDG Investments and Finance can be found at https://www.cfotaskforce.org/.
Sustainable finance also plays an important part on the European level in achieving the ambitious 2030 and 2050 emission reduction targets for decarbonisation. It is essential that companies get involved at an early stage. RWE supports the framework for Sustainable Finance to drive investment into companies delivering the energy transition. To best support the energy transition, it is important to consider how ambitious companies are to change and the speed of their transformation.
Already more than 85% of RWE’s today’s investment comply with the draft green investment criteria of the EU’s taxonomy. By 2030, the company will have reduced its carbon emissions by at least 75%, an important milestone towards RWE’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2040.