What remains of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board?
As an expert committee with 34 members, the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board advised the previous federal government. The break–up of the „traffic light“ coalition in the autumn brought it to an early end. „It was very clear to me in November: Okay, if the coalition is now over, then we will only continue until the end of the legislative period,“ recalls Silke Stremlau.
Stremlau was a member of the newly founded Advisory Board from 2019, and took over as chair in the 20th legislative period in 2022.
At the start, she wanted the advisory board to be asked by the German government about specific problems, and to see measurable success. Has it worked? „Partly, partly,“ summarises Stremlau. The involvement of the committee worked well with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), but not with the issue of share-based annuities. „But to be honest, I think we achieved perhaps half or 40% of what I would have liked at the time.“
Among other things, there was a lack of time – which is why Stremlau hopes that the committee will be revitalised under the new coalition. Stremlau has taken away a few suggestions for improvement from the committee's self-evaluation – starting with the 34 advisory board members. „I would definitely reduce the size. I think a maximum of 25 people is enough,“ she says.
Strategic focussing
She would also like to see more clarity from the federal government regarding the desired direction, and a stronger focus on content. In a committee with a strategic focus, CEOs and state secretaries could for example discuss fundamental issues on an equal footing and provide support. A more operational focus could focus on the working level, with experts who „deal with the small details of regulation on a daily basis“. Stremlau believes it would be ideal to cover both areas via two different committees. She herself would „probably be more likely to be found at the strategic level“, she says. However, she would no longer consider taking on the chair again.
Her own takeaway from her time on the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board is that a lot of impact is created through work and discussions in the background. However, this is time-consuming. Stremlau is active as Deputy Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board at Umwelt Bank, is a member of the Supervisory Board of Nord/LB, and sits on the Advisory Board of the family office Solvia Asset Management. She vacated her position on the Management Board of Hannoversche Kassen, a pension fund, in 2023.
Volunteering as a part-time job
From September 2023 to August 2024, Stremlau held a Senior Fellowship from the Mercator Foundation, allowing her to focus fully on her work on the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board. Otherwise, the effort would have been „unmanageable“, she says.
Like the other committee members, Stremlau worked on an honorary basis. She recommends thinking about budgeting at least half a job-position for the chair if the programme is relaunched, explaining that "it was easily two to three days a week.“ In addition to meetings with the ministries, working groups, and coordination, Stremlau was also in demand personally as a participant in discussion groups, a dialogue partner in interviews, or as a source of inspiration at conferences and congresses. She has tried to „bring sustainable finance to the masses“, she says. Despite the busy time, she wouldn't want to miss the experience. „It was a lot of fun and I learnt an incredible amount.“
Translating regulation
People now recognise her and approach her at conferences. „That always makes me smile,“ admits Stremlau. „But I think it's actually quite nice that this topic is also given a face as a result.“ She has made it her mission to interpret the often complex content behind CSRD, SFDR, taxonomy and the like. „People out there, including in banks and companies, don't want to talk about regulation at first," she says. But they see that the topic is getting hotter and hotter.
The relevance in the federal government could have been higher.
But how successful was the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board from her point of view? On a scale of 1 to 10, she rates its relevance at 9 points – at least in terms of its impact on the market. „The relevance to the German government could have been higher," she adds.
In terms of overall impact, Stremlau sees the panel scoring between 5 and 6 points. Many ideas were conceptually well developed. „But we simply need another four years to implement them", she says.
Stremlau wants to continue to contribute her knowledge in the area of sustainable finance. She is currently involved in a working group to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP30, which will take place in Brazil in November. „I will continue to work on this topic,“ she emphasises. „With an advisory board like that, it's not something you can put away in a drawer at some point. Absolutely not.“
