DUFAS supports the ambition of the Dutch government to make society and economy more sustainable, and supports legislation and regulations that contribute to (financing) the transition to a sustainable Dutch society. Therefore, on January 16, we responded to the public consultation on the Policy Amendment Scheme Green Projects 2022.
Importance of green projects for Dutch society and asset managers
We believe it is important that in the transition to a sustainable society and economy, it is clear to the sector how they can do their part to contribute to the Dutch government's ambitions for sustainability. Therefore, in our response we asked for a widening of some of the criteria for green projects.
Green funds can exist only if they invest a minimum percentage of their capital in green projects. This means that enough projects must be able to qualify as green projects. If there are too few green projects to invest in, a green fund cannot dispose of its capital and a green fund may lose its status as a green fund, resulting in fewer green projects to finance again.
Fulfilling ambitions government through Green Scheme
The Green Projects Scheme 2022 is a scheme in which the legislature links government financial support to funding from green funds, such as certain investment institutions, to jointly finance (sustainable) green projects that would not otherwise be financed. To determine which projects qualify for this funding, criteria have been established. This consultation proposes to change those criteria. The proposed criteria are only so strict that very few projects can meet them.
Proposed adjustments and expected impact
At present, a number of green funds have stopped the inflow of new capital because too few projects are currently declared green and the green funds can no longer dispose of their capital. If the proposed adjustments as named in the Scheme take effect, the number of green declarations and total project capital may possibly decrease even further.
DUFAS therefore proposes that the proposed adjustments to Article 2 of the criteria for the subcategory 'photovoltaic cells' in the Regulation be more in line with what is currently more common in the market. A consequence of our proposal is that more projects will qualify as green projects and in this way better match the ambition of the Dutch government to make society more sustainable.
