PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
To tackle the increasingly damaging climate crisis, a profound transformation of Europe's economy, with a focus on decarbonising the energy system, will be critical. However, a transformation of the energy system will require massive investments, both by the public and private sectors. In light of this, the EC has introduced the EU Taxonomy, an EU-wide classification system to re-orient capital flows towards sustainable economic activities. Yet, the potential to fully take advantage of this opportunity remains untapped, mainly for several reasons. SMEs make up over 99% of all businesses in the EU, accounting for more than half of the EU's GDP and representing a substantial market opportunity for small-scale renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements. However, the vast majority of SMEs fall outside the EU taxonomy reporting obligations, resulting in financial institutions lacking access to sustainability data about SMEs. The main goal of the CONFESS project is to mainstream and foster the maximum growth of sustainable energy investments by establishing a harmonised certification scheme for clean energy SMEs, building on the framework of the EU taxonomy. The uniqueness and impact of the project are due to its approach to building a certification scheme based on a profound exchange with various financial institutions (banks and select private investors) combined with rigorous analysis, work with certification bodies, and clean energy SMEs. Furthermore, regular engagement with the stakeholders will be implemented throughout the whole project and are essential in making the CONFESS certification scheme a widely-used tool for financial market participants to assess the sustainability of their energy investments. Eventually, a faster upscaling of sustainable energy investments is achieved by ensuring that the final CONFESS certification product is created based on transparent certification metrics aligned with the EU's sustainable finance policy framework.