Ripple effects of EUs taxonomy regulation 2020/852 on Norwegian SMEs
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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Date
2021
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Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Creative Sustainability
Language
en
Pages
116 + 36
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Abstract
Background: Norwegian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are left behind in the sustainability transition arena, even though they represent a significant proportion of the Norwegian market. EUs new environmental information regulation (EIR), the Taxonomy Regulation 2020/852 (TR), is on the brink of implementation and has the potential to accelerate this trend further. The regulatory effort is targeting large actors (>500 employees) and actors in capital markets by mandating annual reporting on a paramount of non-financial information (NFI). However, SMEs seem to end up as the end-users of the new EIR as the targeted actors are not able to report on the TR without obtaining NFI from actors in their value chains. Therefore, SMEs are an indirectly targeted group. Furthermore, EIR are prone to organizational decoupling which in turn holds the potential to increase the administrative complexity without creating any value. This can further the administrative burden falling on SMEs – who are already struggling to keep up with the changing regulatory landscape. This ripple effect of the TR on Norwegian SMEs has not been examined, representing a knowledge gap this study aims at investigating further. Objective and research questions: This study explores how Norwegian banks are implementing the TR and how they are relaying the institutional pressure onto SMEs in their value chains. This is investigated through the following RQs; 1) How are banks planning to implement the TR, and how do they intermediate between the policy aims and their own interests?, 2) How are banks forwarding the TR to their SME-loan takers?, and 3) Considerations of improvements and design criteria for the next iteration of the TR. Method: This is a qualitative interview study into organizational decoupling, examining how six leading Norwegian banks are implementing the TR, and thus identifying potential ripple effects on Norwegian SMEs. The study is carried out through semi-structured interviews with Heads of Sustainability in the respective banks. Results: Signs of means-ends decoupling are observed in all six banks. The study identified increased complexity on the managerial level in the banks, whereas the operational level appeared to be less included in the implementation process of the TR. Furthermore, the interviewees in all the banks are incentivized to ‘greening’ the banks portfolios. Accordingly, banks provide a) incentives to SMEs, in the form of cheaper capital for those that can provide NFI with ‘green’ attributes, but there is b) little emphasis on the quality of the NFI obtained. Consequently, SMEs are deemed to provide NFI even though the majority of Norwegian SMEs do not currently have a practice for collecting, structuring, and reporting on such matters. Conclusion: For the TR to become the powerful transition-tool it sets out to be, this study suggests an increased emphasis on SMEs, and their ability to collect, structure, and report the NFI through tools, education, funding, and audit schemes. A letter to the TR working group including design criteria can be seen in the attached document. To ensure a successful implementation of EIR, more focus on those actors that provide the NFI appears reasonable to minimize the risk of organizational decoupling. Theory on organizational decoupling proposes a lens to identify the phenomena This study suggests this as a point of departure for further investigations.Description
Supervisor
Jalas, MikkoThesis advisor
Jalas, MikkoKeywords
environmental information regulation, organizational decoupling, SMEs, EUs taxonomy regulation 2020/852, sustainable finance, environmental policy