Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets sets four improvement priorities for sustainability claims and signals stricter supervision in 2026

The Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) has published an ESG update on “fair sustainability claims”, urging financial firms to improve how they communicate sustainability-related messages and warning that it will supervise such claims more intensively in 2026. The AFM’s review covered sustainability claims used by banks, insurers, investment firms and pension administrators against the principles in its Guidance on Sustainability Claims. The AFM reiterates that sustainability claims must be correct, clear and not misleading, and for pensions must be balanced. It found that marketing language often conflicts with clear, concrete explanations, with claims frequently too vague to convey actual efforts or results and creating a risk of mismatch with consumer and pension participant expectations. Substantiation was also sometimes missing or difficult to locate. The AFM highlights four improvement areas: ensure claims give a correct and representative picture, specify what the claim means for the firm or product, make supporting evidence easy to find, and provide necessary explanations when referring to climate neutrality, ESG ratings and impact. Firms included in the review indicated they will work on the improvements and reassess their claims, with some already having adjusted them. The AFM expects further sharpening where needed and plans to conduct a further review of sustainability claims in 2026.