Sustainable investment and defence – Eurosif discussion paper
As geopolitical tensions continue to intensify, the EU and its member states are under growing pressure to increase defence spending. Against this backdrop, the relationship between sustainable finance and defence has become an increasingly prominent issue in public and policy debates. In particular, the role that sustainable investment from private actors could play in supporting these objectives remains both sensitive and contested, reflecting a wide range of views across the sustainable finance industry.
This discussion paper aims to provide a clear and objective overview of the current regulatory and market landscape, and sets out the broad range of investor perspectives shaping the debate across Europe.
It does not present policy proposals or a formal position of Eurosif.
The discussion paper focuses on three main aspects:
- Clarifying the current defence investment landscape, highlighting the distinct roles of governments and private investors, as well as the latest data regarding sustainability-related funds’ investments in the defence sector.
- What EU sustainable finance rules (e.g. SFDR) say about investment in defence, by examining how recent clarifications from policymakers reinforce the sector-neutrality of the regulatory framework.
- Reflecting the various investor approaches to sustainability-related investment and defence, exploring the rationale and challenges of practices ranging from outright exclusion on ethical grounds to selective inclusion based on specific criteria.
