ESMA and the ESAs Sustainability Priorities for 2025

Tackling greenwashing and promoting transparency remains a key 2025 priority for both the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) with their 2025 annual working programmes – published on 1 October 2024 and 7 October 2024 respectively – confirming that they intend to focus on improving ESG supervisory practices and monitoring in 2025. 

What are the key sustainability priorities for 2025?

The regulatory bodies will focus on: 

• Collaborating with national competent authorities to support the development of tools to detect and address greenwashing practices by firms. 
• Monitoring the implementation and application of sustainability rules and guidelines (particularly ESG fund name guidelines). 
• Deepening supervisors’ ESG expertise and skills to upskill supervisors monitoring of greenwashing practices.  
• Monitoring the need for additional guidance under various legislative regimes such as SFDR, MiFID II, Taxonomy Regulation, CSRD and BMR to promote the convergence of supervisory approaches.
• Assessment and review of SFDR and the development of machine-readable templates for SFDR disclosures (subject to approval by the European Commission). 
• Publishing the fourth annual report covering the quality of principal adverse impact (PAI) disclosures under SFDR.

What next?

The annual working programmes emphasise the persistent regulatory focus on sustainability and tackling greenwashing in the financial markets. With the direction of SFDR still uncertain (please see our recent Viewpoint for more information), it is clear that both the ESAs and ESMA see the development of SFDR and sustainability rules more generally as one of their key priorities.  

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