Sustainable Finance EU Taxonomy

Country / jurisdiction: European Union · Year: 2021 · Status: In force · Level: International · Type: Voluntary

The EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act aims at supporting sustainable investment by making it clearer which economic activities most contribute to meeting the EU's environmental objectives. It defines an actual list of environmentally sustainable activities through technical screening criteria.

There are six environmental objectives established: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control, and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Commission also proposes a new European Green Bond Standard, which will create standards for bonds financing sustainable investment. The Commission also adopted a Delegated Act on the information to be disclosed by financial and non-financial companies, based on article 8 of the EU Taxonomy. The latter was adopted on 6 July 2021 by the Commissions, for scrutiny by the colegislators. The delegated act specificies the content, methodology and presentation of information to be disclosed by the financial and non-financial undertakings concerning the proportion of environmentally sustainable economic activities in their business, investments or lending activities.

The Taxonomy Regulation was published on EU Official Journal on 22 June 2020 and entered into force on 12 July 2020.

On 2 February 2022, the College of Commissioners reached a political agreement on the updated content of the Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act. The document will be formally adopted as soon as the translations in all the EU languages will be available.

The newer Complementary Climate Delegated Act introduces stricter conditions for gas and nuclear activities that are eligible for private investments in the context of the transition of the energy system. Gas projects need to contribute to climate neutrality transition, whereas nuclear projects need to respect environmental and safety standards. Additional transparency requirements were added too.

Official source: https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/210706-sustainable-finance-strategy_en