In brief: Invest Europe’s ESG reporting guidelines now available to all

Invest Europe has made its guidelines on ESG reporting freely available, having previously restricted access to members only. There were several reasons for Invest Europe’s decision to make the framework publicly available, a spokesperson told New Private Markets. These are:

• “Promoting industry-wide ESG standards”: Opening up the guidelines incentivises firms to adopt a common set of methodologies, said the spokesperson.
• “Encouraging transparency and accountability”: Stakeholders can better assess the ESG practices of firms if they have access to the reporting guidelines.
• “Facilitating benchmarking and performance improvements”: Invest Europe hopes to encourage firms to evaluate their ESG initiatives and identify areas for improvement.

A trade association for European private equity, venture capital and infrastructure investors, Invest Europe first launched the guidelines for members in 2022. “Our members are finding the global ESG standards market very confusing and don’t know what to rely on,” public affairs director Martin Bresson told NPM last year before the guidelines were released. “We’re not hoping to add to the confusion, we’re hoping to develop something that will clarify.”

The spokesperson declined to comment on how widely adopted the guidelines were at present, but confirmed that they have been endorsed by organisations including TowerBrook, Eurazeo, France Invest, European Investment Fund and Norwest Venture Partners.