The Towards Sustainability label is an independent quality label for financial products in Belgium. The label guarantees that a product meets strict sustainability requirements. Anyone looking to save or invest sustainably can rest assured with a labelled product that a credible level and high-quality implementation of sustainability — going beyond legal compliance — is achieved.

The label is managed by the non-profit organization Towards Sustainability Labelling Agency (CLA). The Board of Directors of this non-profit determines the Quality Standard that must be achieved to obtain the label. Representatives from academia, civil society, and the financial sector sit on this board. The Quality Standard spans over 80 pages and sets out the requirements that a financial product must meet to bear the label.

Forum Ethibel, together with the ICHEC Brussels Management School and the University of Antwerp, has been appointed as the independent Verifier. They check whether the product complies with all criteria of the label, both in its investment policy and in the composition of the portfolio. Products that have already obtained the label are also re-examined every year by these independent experts.

Many financial products claim to be 'sustainable', 'green', or something similar, but what that concretely means varies greatly. As an independent seal of quality, the Towards Sustainability label offers clarity: you immediately know that a product meets measurable, verified requirements. In this way, the label protects you as an investor against greenwashing.

The name reflects a realistic approach: sustainability is a process, not an endpoint. For example, the label does not only allow investments in fully sustainable companies, but also in companies that are demonstrably taking steps in the right direction — provided they have concrete goals and report transparently on their progress.

Since the launch of the label in 2019, the quality standard has already been revised twice. Each time, the ambition has been set higher. In 2023, for instance, the requirements regarding climate transition and gender diversity were tightened. For each revision, a group of stakeholders such as NGOs, policy makers, academics, investors, and the financial sector is consulted. This approach allows the minimum requirements for sustainable saving and investing to keep evolving.

The criteria of the label’s Quality Standard are regularly reviewed and strengthened to keep pace with society's changing needs, investor expectations, scientific knowledge, data availability and European regulation, and respond to new challenges in areas such as climate change or artificial intelligence. A new evaluation process of the label and the Quality Standard will start in September 2026.

You can look up all labelled products with the search tool on this website. Thanks to the handy filters, you can easily search products that meet your expectations. For example, you can filter by the type of product, the sustainability strategy you find important, the geographical area or a specific theme close to your heart. 

The list of labelled products is updated regularly. This ensures you always have access to the most up-to-date information.

The label is available for a wide range of financial products. In principle, all standardized, collectively managed portfolios can apply for the label. This means labelled products are available for every type of saver and investor, ranging from savings and pension products, to investment funds and ETFs, to insurance products and much more.

Labelled products bear the Towards Sustainability logo. You can find it on the product factsheet, the website of your bank or asset manager, and in the official product database on the label's website. If you are in doubt, simply ask your banker or advisor, or get in touch with us.

The label gives you extra insight into the sustainability of your investment; the label does not guarantee a return. For your information, scientific research over the years has shown that sustainable financial products simply yield a comparable return, and can even sometimes be more profitable on the long term. It is therefore a persistent misunderstanding that sustainable investing inherently yields less profit.

Yes, as with any investment, risks exist: for example, the value of your investment can rise or fall. The Towards Sustainability label does not protect you against these risks, but it does ensure that you know where your money is going. It is a guarantee that the sustainability claims made by the product have been verified independently.

By choosing a product with the Towards Sustainability label, you know that the sustainability claims have been independently verified and that it meets the minimum requirements to obtain the label, or even goes beyond.

If you want more information on how a specific product concretely tackles sustainability, you can easily click through to its sustainability ID. On this page, you will find a wealth of extra information. The product’s sustainability ID shows you, for example, which sustainability strategies are used, what the exposure is to certain controversial sectors, and what the adverse impacts of the investments are.

The label establishes minimum requirements that a product must meet. Some labelled products therefore go further than the Quality Standard. You can use the filters on the product page and look up each product's approach on the sustainability ID to find one within the wide range of labelled products that aligns with your own preferences.

No. Towards Sustainability is the only label for financial products in Belgium. Other labels, such as the European EU Ecolabel, have a different focus or different standards. Towards Sustainability label is verified independently and aligns with European regulations.

If a minor breach is detected – for example, suppose a company that should actually be excluded is included in the portfolio – the manager is given the opportunity to act on it. If a product structurally fails to meet the minimum requirements, or if the same breach is detected for two consecutive years, the label is withdrawn. If a product falsely claims to comply with the Quality Standard, it can be held accountable for misleading practices (greenwashing). This can lead to fines, forced cessation of the product's marketing, or claims for damages by investors.

If a product no longer meets the requirements, the label is withdrawn. This is made public on the website. Furthermore, your bank or asset manager is obliged to inform you about this. This can be done via a notification in the banking app, by email, or by letter.