Open letter: Avoid fossil fuel greenwashing in EU funds

A coalition of 133 civil society organizations, financial institutions, academics, and experts calls for the exclusion of fossil fuel developers from all SFDR fund categories, specifically targeting the "ESG basics" category to prevent greenwashing and align EU finance with climate goals.

• The signatories argue that the European Commission's proposal to review the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) fails by allowing fossil fuel developers to remain in the "ESG basics" category, despite excluding them from "sustainable" and "transition" categories.
• The letter asserts that including fossil fuel developers in any fund making environmental claims would mislead retail investors, noting that 62% of retail investors in a BEUC survey would exclude such companies.
• The signatories highlight a regulatory gap caused by the removal of the "Do No Significant Harm" (DNSH) principle from the revised regulation, arguing that the current "ESG basics" category has insufficient exclusions to prevent environmental harm, as it only specifically excludes coal companies.
• The demand for exclusion is grounded in climate science and legal precedents, citing that the consumption of current fossil fuel reserves would exceed carbon budgets for 1.5°C and 2°C, and referencing court rulings against companies like TotalEnergies and Shell for greenwashing.

APA

Reclaim Finance (n.d.). Open letter: Avoid fossil fuel greenwashing in EU funds. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Open-letter-from-133-signatories-Avoid-fossil-fuel-greenwashing-in-EU-funds.pdf

Chicago

Reclaim Finance. Open letter: Avoid fossil fuel greenwashing in EU funds. n.d. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Open-letter-from-133-signatories-Avoid-fossil-fuel-greenwashing-in-EU-funds.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Reclaim Finance |title=Open letter: Avoid fossil fuel greenwashing in EU funds |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Open-letter-from-133-signatories-Avoid-fossil-fuel-greenwashing-in-EU-funds.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{reclaimfinancendopen, author = {{Reclaim Finance}}, title = {{Open letter: Avoid fossil fuel greenwashing in EU funds}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Open-letter-from-133-signatories-Avoid-fossil-fuel-greenwashing-in-EU-funds.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }