Consumers targeted in European sustainable finance drive

Financial organisations across Luxembourg have launched a new initiative to educate consumers on sustainable finance.

The ABBL Foundation for Financial Education, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), the Luxembourg Association of Investment Funds (ALFI) and the Ministry of Consumer Protection collaborated to launch the campaign.

Prior to the launch of this campaign, the four organisations worked on a research study to better understand the levels of understanding of sustainable finance in the wider population.

While respondents acknowledged that the financial industry could play a positive role in the transformation of society, they were unsure about how their money could make a difference. The majority of those interviewed by researchers said they assumed sustainable finance equated to the same thing as “green finance”.

Vous, a marketing and communications agency, was appointed to devise the consumer-facing campaign which combined posters, videos and press promotion with a dedicated website and a Facebook page.

The campaign is designed to raise awareness of sustainable financial products and to inform consumers of the full range of sustainable finance criteria across environmental, social and governance categories.

The initiative aims to equip consumers with sufficient knowledge to question and compare product providers, and to educate them about ESG considerations, so they can hold informed conversations with their financial advisers or product providers about their investment preferences.

“The European States have made firm commitments to make the ecological transition a success, by allocating significant financial resources,” a spokesman said in a statement.

“The desire to contribute to a better understanding of finance, as well as the desire to mobilise part of private savings for projects allowing the transition to a more sustainable world, are the triggering elements for this campaign.”

Further details on the campaign can be found, in French, German and English, at finance-durable.lu.