European PE industry group announces further ESG industry standards and data collection efforts

January has seen two important announcements from Invest Europe, the European PE industry group body representing some of Europe's largest private capital providers. 

Firstly, Invest Europe is planning to announce its own ESG reporting framework this summer, having reportedly been in discussions with the ESG Data Convergence Project to join their recently announced reporting framework (which we have written about here), following demand from its LP and GP members and with input from Invest Europe's VC, private equity, and institutional investor members. 

Secondly, the European Data Cooperative, a joint initiative developed by Invest Europe and its national association partners to collect Europe-wide industry data on activity (such as investments/divestments) and economic impact (such as turnover and EBITDA), is going to measure PE and VC ESG contributions by annually tracking data, with the aim of 'measuring the industry’s performance on the ESG issues that matter to society'. This is said to include European emissions and progress towards net zero, as well as female representation on the staff and boards of portfolio companies.

We look forward to more information on both initiatives. 

For more detail on the announcements, see:

• Invest Europe to Set ESG Reporting Standard | Invest Europe
• Why Invest Europe is planning its own ESG reporting framework | New Private Markets