The Dutch pensions regulator, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), is to further investigate several ‘points of attention’ on a consultation on environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting statements, following negative feedback.

The consultation was undertaken in September and October 2024, with proposals on ESG reporting statements. DNB has proposed amending the Pension Funds Reporting Statement Regulations 2015 to introduce two new Financial Assessment Framework (FTK) report statements, to be requested on an annual basis.

However, DNB announced just before Christmas that it will not implement the new reporting standards yet and instead will further investigate the points of attention mentioned by respondents.

DNB received consultation responses from eight parties including the Federation of Dutch Pension Funds. The parties pointed out, among other things, the overlap with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and possibly unclear definitions of requested data points.

At the time of the consultation, the pension federation said the proposal to the reporting statements “offers no added value” and “completely misses the target”. As a result, it requested that DNB reconsider or thoroughly revise the draft ESG statements

While the federation acknowledged that mapping climate and environmental risks is valuable in itself, it took issue with the former proposal by DNB. One of its most “pressing concerns” related to the increase in administrative burden. It argued that the increased reporting is disproportionate to the added value that it creates.

More information from DNB is expected to follow in the first half of 2025.

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