Airbus’ SpatiaCore team are supporting the first Open Source Sustainable Finance Taxonomy (OS-SFT)

Sustainable Finance Taxonomies are supporting the transition of financial services to a more sustainable future. Taxonomies provide the basis for evaluation of a financial asset and if, or how, it will support sustainability goals and define the rules by which the future financial system is designed, built and managed. Access to comprehensive taxonomy models is important for the success of the financial system and sustainable investment.

In recognition of the expanding range of sustainable finance frameworks, standards and regulations and laws, the first global Open-Source Sustainability Financial Taxonomy (OS-SFT) project launched in October 2022, aimed at helping to accelerate the transition of financial services. The OS-SFT project is the first of its kind to focus on the benefits of delivering a global resource of free, peer-developed and peer-reviewed taxonomy models for new datasets that banks will need to use across their existing infrastructure.

Airbus already provides environmental hazard insights and climate change analytics, at property level, through its SpatiaCore, for lenders and insurers to assess the potential risk to their portfolios. With the launch of OS-SFT, Airbus has identified this as an additional important route to support finance organisations in their fight against the effects of climate change and answer key Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) criteria in a practical way.

Airbus will support a cohort of other members including First Derivative on the OS-SFT, by attending group discussions and providing insight from its industry experience, not only from its SpatiaCore, but from leaning on its expertise in Earth Observation data, geospatial capabilities and analytics. Airbus aim to support First Derivative on services across sustainable finance, ESG and climate related business needs, including; securities markets, commercial lending, retail mortgages and other specialist financing.

The OS-SFT will support the financial markets openly as data requirements expand beyond carbon across all sorts of new data requirements: greenhouse gas, environmental, societal, governance, climate, offsets, financial instruments and more.