Towards Sustainability
The Label Towards Sustainability, one of the labels with the greatest diffusion in Europe, aims to assure investors that certified products are socially responsible and not subject to unsustainable practices.
Summary data :
| label | ID | Topic | Description | Mode | Enabled | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Label | Towards Sustainability | t | 1 | 1 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Nationality | Belgium - English | t | 1 | 3 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Management | Label managed by the Central Labelling Agency - a Belgian non-profit association | t | 1 | 4 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Label Type | SRI | t | 1 | 5 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Website | https://www.towardssustainability.be/en/quality-standard | t | 1 | 7 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Market | The label targets both the Belgian market where it covers both banking, insurance and mutual fund products and the European market (mutual funds) | t | 1 | 8 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Products | 701 to March 2025 | t | 1 | 9 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Links to funds | https://www.towardssustainability.be/en/Investment-Product | t | 1 | 10 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Criteria | https://www.towardssustainability.be/en/node/1021 | t | 1 | 15 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Periodicity | Annual | t | 1 | 21 |
Analytical data :
| label | ID | Topic | Description | Mode | Enabled | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Description | The Label Towards Sustainability, one of the labels with the greatest diffusion in Europe, aims to assure investors that certified products are socially responsible and not subject to unsustainable practices. | d | 1 | 6 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Genesis and development | The Label was created in 2019 for the purpose of defining a minimum sustainability content for funds claiming to be SRI. The initiative was spearheaded by Febelfin, the trade association of finance professionals in Belgium, in agreement with a group of financial and civil stakeholders Society with the aim of qualitatively and quantitatively raising the level of socially responsible and sustainable financial products, and broadening its principles to traditional financial products | d | 1 | 11 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Goals | The label, through a choice of minimum and certified selection criteria, aims to instill confidence and reassure investors that labelled financial products are managed as Socially Responsible investments and are not exposed to unsustainable practices ; it intends to demonstrate in a transparent and pragmatic way how financial performance and a high standard of social performance can be reconciled | d | 1 | 12 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Promoters and administrators | The Towards Sustainability label is administered by a nonprofit association, the Central Labeling Agency (CLA), which is responsible for evaluating applications for certification and aims to broaden the impact and substance of sustainable savings and investment, and to strengthen the industry's quality management processes with regard to sustainable investment | d | 1 | 13 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | SRI Approach | A financial product can be considered socially responsible and obtain the label if, in addition to applying strategies to exclude assets that are considered unsustainable, it practices a comprehensive ESG integration approach by adding at least one of the following 4 strategies: Best in Class, Regulatory Screening, Thematic Approach, and Impact Investing | d | 1 | 14 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Mandatory Criteria | Five principles must be met: 1) an integrated approach to sustainable investment (at least 4 sustainability strategies must be active), 2) of Exclusion criteria (The fund must oversee compliance with the Global Compact and exclude weapons, tobacco, and fossil and nuclear energy), 3) transparent communication of its policy regarding controversial societal issues (biodviersity, tax evasion, non-free countries ...), 4) transparent public disclosure of its ESG policy in a detailed public website, and 5) acceptance of the principle of periodic review of its performance by an independent third party. | d | 1 | 16 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Additional criteria | The fund has ample room to manage the various ESG strategies. In addition to the two mandatory strategies (ESG Integration and Exclusions), the following are encouraged : 1) Best in class / positive screening approaches ; 2) Regulatory screening (international conventions and treaties), 3) Thematic approaches ; 4) Participatory approaches (engagement), and 5) "impact" approaches (socially beneficial investments / aligned on UN SDGs) | d | 1 | 17 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Allocation process | In order to obtain the label, Society who wish to apply should contact the CLA directly from which they will receive the "Application Package," which contains the necessary information for the labeling process (Required Documents, fee, official text of the QS and technical information and requirements). Thereafter, they must renew the submission annually and accept a periodic inspection by a certifying body. | d | 1 | 20 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | External certification | Each fund is annually certified after a review process carried out by the external certification body appointed by the CLA ("certifier") for the purpose of establishing continued compliance with the label criteria. | d | 1 | 22 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Focus on transparency | The label provides for reporting of all fund management attributes on a public site linked to the label that is promptly updated when significant data changes occur (https://www.towardssustainability.be/en/Investment-Product) | d | 1 | 23 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Focus on periodic checks | Compliance with the Quality Standard is to be assessed by a qualified independent third party annually. The choice of certifying body (currently Forum Ethibel (a nonprofit association operating in sustainable finance since 1990) and the Universities of Antwerp and the Management School of Brussels. | d | 1 | 24 |
| Towards Sustainability | 3 | Related parties | The Label appoints independent auditing bodies to verify the accuracy of the claims and the alignment of the product with the required quality standards. Currently, Forum Ethibel, ICHEC (Brussels Management School) and the University of Antwerp are the external certifiers | d | 1 | 25 |
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