2024 : a pivotal year
The year 2024 was marked by the development of regulatory frameworks related to sustainability at both European and international levels.
An increasing number of countries have introduced reporting standards or adopted ISSB standards, as seen in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Various sustainable finance taxonomies were announced or published, such as those in Canada, Costa Rica, and the ASEAN region. Meanwhile, some territories have embarked on creating ad hoc regulatory frameworks: notably, the United Kingdom implemented a new sustainable finance regime under the SDR regulation, adopting several "regulatory packages" in 2024.
For its part, the European Union has pursued the adoption of the "Green Deal" by introducing the calculation of taxonomic alignment on the 6 objectives of the European Taxonomy (effective in 2026 for financial companies) and by adopting both the ESMA Guidelines on fund names and the regulation on ESG score providers.
2025 - the new rules of the game
The year 2025 is expected to continue the momentum from 2024, with the implementation of several new regulations. These changes present fresh challenges for financial players, who will need to adapt their strategies to meet the new requirements.
Several significant developments are anticipated this year:
- SRI label: January 1, 2025 marks the end of the transition period for the new SRI label standards. All SRI-labeled funds must now comply with the requirements of V3. New features include the introduction of mandatory exclusions, the balancing of the three ESG pillars in stock ratings, and the analysis of transition plans.
- ESMA guidelines on fund names : In 2024, ESMA introduced a new guideline on ESG terms used in fund names. From May 2025, all new and existing funds will have to comply with the regulations. Funds using sustainability-related terms in their names will be required to comply with PAB or CTB benchmark exclusions, and to meet a threshold of 80% ESG characteristics or 50% sustainable investment as defined by SFDR. For further information, please consult WeeFin's decryption of the label overhaul.
- SFDR The SFDR regulationThe SFDR regulation, whose provisions were put up for consultation at the end of 2023, will undergo revisions at two levels in 2025. These changes aim to ensure better compliance of financial products with the regulation while simplifying its application and ensuring consistency across all texts (such as ESMA Guidelines for fund names, CSRD, etc.).
- Level 2: The European Commission is expected to adopt RTS introducing new IAPs, but also new templates for pre-contractual and periodic appendices, as well as increased transparency obligations on the DNSH test and on the calculation of entity-level IAPs.
- Level 1: The European Union will unveil its SFDR amendment project, drawing on feedback from stakeholders, particularly the proposals from its Platform on Sustainable Finance. It is highly likely that the current classification will be replaced by the creation of labels (“Sustainable”, “Transition”, “ESG Collection”, “Unclassified Products”).
- Omnibus Directive: To improve the competitiveness of European companies compared to their American and Asian counterparts, the European Union plans to harmonise and reduce the requirements of existing reports (CSRD, CSDDD, and the Green Taxonomy) within an omnibus directive. The final publication of the text is expected by the end of 2025.
- CRR3/CRD6 banking package: 1st January 2025 marks the general application of Basel III in EU law, a key step in integrating climate issues into bank risk supervision. In this context, the EBA has published guidelines to frame ESG risk management by credit institutions and plans to release new guidelines on the use and development of ESG scenarios.
In 2025, the UK's sustainable finance regulatory landscape will continue to evolve with various reforms discussed in recent years, including:
- Implementation of the "Naming & Marketing rule" and, more generally, the implementation of the entire SDR package
- Transposition of ISSB standards to the UK (SRS standards)
Thus, 2025 is a decisive year for sustainable finance with the application of major regulations that will directly impact the strategies of financial institutions.
To help you anticipate these changes and tackle these new challenges, WeeFin offers a regulatory calendar listing all the important deadlines of 2025.
Download the 2025 regulatory calendar :
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