(Public) Sustainable securitisations in the Netherlands have as yet exclusively been issued as Green RMBS transactions.
The framework supporting these Green RMBS transactions consists of:
1) The Taxonomy (European regulation): the Taxonomy Regulation EU 2020/852 of 22 June 2020; supplemented by the Climate Delegated Act EU 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021, providing technical screening criteria in Chapter 7 of each of the 2 annexes (one for Climate Change Mitigation and one for Climate Change Adaption) as well as in Appendix A of Climate Change Mitigation, Generic criteria for Do Not Significantly Harm to climate change adaptation and the Environmental Delegated Act, still to be published in the Official Journal, providing 4 additional annexes.
2) The “Bouwbesluit” (Buildings Decree), incorporating the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) EU 2018/844 which provides directions for the technical screening criteria, like rules for the issuance of Energy Performance Certificates and energy demand thresholds.
3) Green Bond Principles / EU Green Bond Standard; the Green Bond Principles of ICMA provide a set of voluntary process guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure and promote integrity in the development of the Green Bond market by clarifying the approach for issuance of a Green Bond. The EU Green Bond Standard has been agreed in the EU trilogue and will next to the market based Green Bond Standard provide a regulated alternative that can be used on a voluntary basis next to or instead of the standards agreed in the Green Bond Principles.
Dutch Energy Efficient Mortgage Framework developed by the Energy Efficient Mortgages NL Hub
The Energy Efficient Mortgages NL Hub (EEM NL Hub) is an association set up with the aim of supporting and promoting the acceleration and adaptation of energy efficient housing in the Netherlands and the financing thereof. The EEM NL Hub was established in September 2021 and currently has 24 members and 20 affiliated members, including the DSA.
Through different working groups, the members of the EEM NL Hub have developed the Dutch Energy Efficient Mortgage Framework (DEEMF) which aims to provide guidance to the market on what can be considered a ‘green’ (or energy efficient) mortgage loan. DEEMF is a detailed interpretation of Section 7 of the EU Taxonomy Regulation (see 1) hereabove) and is a voluntary framework that can be applied by financial institutions and issuers of green financing transactions, on a comply-or-explain basis. The EEM NL Hub has no formal capacity when it comes to interpreting (EU or other) legislation. By publishing this document, the members of the EEM NL hub hope to provide useful guidance for other institutions in other jurisdictions, but local specifics in relation to mortgage lending, construction law, energy labelling and energy label data will make it necessary to perform a careful analysis of the local circumstances, practices and regulations.
On 3 October, 2022, the EEM NL hub published the first version of the Dutch Energy Efficient Mortgage Framework (DEEMF). The original publications and further updates are freely available on www.energyefficientmortgages.nl.
For any comments or questions, please contact the EEM NL Hub at info@eemnl.com.